Wishing
by Moonlight-Lullabies
Summary: Eleven years since her run in the Labyrinth Sarah has won the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. Spending the past eight years in Europe before returning to the States she feels as if she is in a waking dream. Is everything as it seems?
1. Masquerade

**AN: Okay so this is my second attempt at a Laby fanfic, so please be gentle with me. The main theme comes from the song Blinded by Florence and the Machine.**

 **This is set in modern times since I am a 90s baby and I don't know much about the 80s.**

 **Please, read and enjoy my humble little vision. Chapter titles are key lines from Phantom songs and during this first chapter especially, even though Sarah is singing she is also thinking about certain lines within that song. They match the story in certain aspects.**

 **Also, super short chapter to start out but it will grow. This story is already completed and written out I'm just fine tuning the chapters before I post. I also apologize for the obscenely long AN.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. The Labyrinth is a song I can't get out of my head. Also, anything in this fanfic that seems similar in any way to any other author out there I apologize. I am only one person. As much as I love to read Laby fics I have not read them all, so anything similar in that way is unintentional.**

There was a hush from the audience and everything was silent. Even the soft instrumentals had mellowed out into more mournful tones of music as a voice sang out in the theatre.

Lone upon the stage stood Sarah Williams, her pure soprano voice echoing around the expanse of the theatre. _You were once my one companion, you were all that mattered._

She poured every ounce of emotion she could muster into the song. Tears slid down her face as she made her way through the set of the graveyard. It never failed that when she arrived at that song her emotions took control. At that point she wasn't even acting. _Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here._

There was always a stunned silence from the audience as she poured her heart out into the song. She could not explain why it affected her so.

When she was in high school she knew she wanted to act. When she was in drama club they did a musical. Only then did Sarah discover that she could sing and not only sing: her voice was a lovely soprano.

 _Wishing I could hear your voice again, knowing that I never would._

Sarah could still remember fleeing up the stairs upon returning home, excitement flooding through her being. She called to her friends before she even sat down. They had appeared whenever she called back then. The labyrinth had been real and her friends had stayed by her side.

The last time she had spoken to them was eight years ago. Now there was only silence. _Dreaming of you won't help me to do all that you dreamed I could._

After she discovered that she could sing as well as act Sarah contacted her mother who immediately sent money for Sarah to begin voice lessons as well as acting lessons. She landed a role in her first musical before she graduated. _Too many years fighting back tears, why can't the past just die?_

Then there came a time when her memories became muddled. It was the last time she had spoken with her friends those eight years ago. She remembered sitting in her room talking with Hoggle and Sir Didymus, gushing over how it felt to sing on stage and how it set her veins on fire.

They never came back after that night, and Sarah had flown to London to join her mother's theatre. The time after that was always hard for her to focus on, like trying to put a lens in focus when stretched beyond its limits. _Try to forgive, teach me to live. Give me the strength to try._

She had arrived back in the states a year ago, joining a theatre company. She auditioned for _The Phantom of the Opera_ and won the sought after role of Christine. It was the role of a lifetime.

Sarah felt as if the musical spoke to her. The part suited her perfectly and she had never felt more alive. _No more memories, no more silent tears. No more gazing across the wasted years._

Somewhere out in the audience her father Robert, his wife Karen, and even eleven year old Toby sat watching her. It was the first time they had seen her perform since her high school days. _Help me say goodbye. Help me say goodbye._

The song ended, flowing into another part of the act. Sarah seamlessly melded into her role as Christine, drawn in by the Phantom's gentle song.

The rest of the musical went on without a hitch. Sarah came back upon the stage to bow with the rest of her fellow actors to outstanding applause from the audience. She still had a hard time believing they were cheering for her.

Afterwards she was backstage headed to her dressing room. Robert, Karen, and Toby were already there. When she opened the door her father pulled her into a tight hug. Tears were running down his face.

"Oh Sarah you were wonderful up there. You were a dream. I couldn't believe that was my little girl."

Sarah beamed at her father and wiped away a lone tear that had broken free from her own eyes. "Sometimes it feels like a dream Dad, like I'm not really awake."

"You look like a queen." Toby spoke then, grinning from ear to ear, motioning to Sarah's brilliant white dress, the _wedding_ dress from the final scene.

"I feel like one when I'm in this dress Tobes." Sarah admitted then noticed something on her vanity.

"Did you bring that to me Dad?" Sarah asked.

On her vanity was a single flower unlike any she had ever seen before. It was midnight blue and almost sparkled in the light. She didn't know why but it made her breath hitch.

"No honey, it was here when we got here. Do you have an admirer?" Robert playfully hinted at Sarah.

Sarah laughed, "None that I've kept around Dad."

Walking over to the vanity she picked up the flower, bringing the petals to her nose. It smelled wonderful and reminded her of the stars. "It's lovely."

Karen walked over to Sarah and took it, inspecting it. "Well there's no note. It could have come from anyone. Let's put it in some water so it won't wilt. I've never seen a flower like this before. It'd be a shame for it to die before you got a chance to enjoy it."

"Actually I need to get out of this dress before Andre comes in here and has a fit. I can't risk anything happening to it before the next show."

Robert beamed, "Let's wait outside for Sarah, Karen. Are you still going to join us for dinner?"

Sarah nodded and her family left the room. As soon as she was alone she sighed and sank into her chair. Her hands went to her forehead, supporting her as she sobbed. Finally she was alone and the mask could fall. _Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you._

She was an excellent actress. Only when she was alone could she let her guard down. She hadn't lied to her dad when she told him she felt like it was a dream, as if she wasn't really awake. Her whole life had that effect, like it was blurry around the edges.

Once again Sarah looked to her mirror and tried as hard as she could to summon her friends.

She had spent so many days with them in her old room. She would tell them all about her voice lessons and they would tell her all about _That Rat Jareth_ and his never-ending attempts to find a reason to tip Hoggle into the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Sarah had always laughed. She got the feeling the Goblin King liked to tease Hoggle, because he had never actually gone through with it.

Where were her friends now? Why didn't they come to her? _Masquerade, you can fool any friend who ever knew you._

Sarah sighed, her chest hurting as she gripped the flower in her delicately manicured fingers. She then placed it in a glass of water she procured and put it beside her mirror. _Okay Sarah, change your clothes and put your mask back on. Pretend you're not numb._

Dinner with her family passed by and finally Sarah was left to hail a cab back to her small apartment. It was sparsely decorated. Sarah hadn't had time to adorn the walls yet. Between rehearsals and the actual show she hadn't had time for much of anything.

Her thoughts kept returning to her friends though, that night more than before. She felt strange, like she had been floating through a dream and had begun to become lucid, taking back control.

"Hoggle I need you." Sarah called out into the silent room. There was no reply, no rustling of the wind to signify his arrival.

With a frown Sarah realized she even missed the mischievous goblins that used to hang around her. Once upon a time ago they had even made mischief backstage at her first musical in high school.

A pang of loneliness swept through her and she shook it off, heading for her small bathroom to shower and go to bed. _Rinse and repeat._ That was the routine of her life.


	2. Wandering Child

**AN: I know my story is sort-of predictable but I wanted to write something I want to read and even though I have been reading some AMAZING laby fanfics, this is a story I keep playing in my mind. So here's hoping that this is also someone's cup of tea as well. XD**

The day was bright and airy. Sarah found herself at the park in the middle of the city. There were crowds of people gathered here and there. It was a lovely day.

She had a few hours before she had to be back at the theatre so she was wandering the city.

She came across a young boy playing guitar at a fountain. Sarah stopped and watched a while, mesmerized. He looked so sad. He was strumming as hard as he could and it was lovely. No one had stopped by to watch him play his heart out.

 _Please leave a contribution in the little box._ The words from ten years ago came floating back, causing Sarah to frown. Still though she reached in her purse and pulled out a twenty, placing it in the case. The boy's face lit up like he had won the jackpot and Sarah smiled softly to him.

"Don't ever give up on your dreams, no matter how out of reach they seem." She spoke to him, her pale jade eyes boring into his, imploring him to listen. _It's a crystal, nothing more, but if you turn it this way and look into it…_

She left then. The boy was shaking from the intensity of the woman's gaze, and then when he looked back down into the guitar case where the twenty had been there lay a crystal glistening in the sunlight.

Sarah wandered through the throngs of people, never really seeing anything. She couldn't take another minute of solitude at her apartment and at least she would still be invisible here.

The phone in her pocket began chiming. It was her mother.

"Hello Linda." Sarah answered as she walked past a couple wrapped in the other's arms.

"Sarah sweetheart your father called and told me about your performance last night. I am so proud of you. Never did I dream my baby would surpass me."

 _Masquerade, every face a different shade, and mine goes back on._ "I know Linda, thank you. It has all been surreal. Thank you for all you did for me. You took me in, gave me a place to stay and helped me join your troupe."

"Sarah honey, you're not making any sense." There was static on the other end of the line, "Look I'm heading through a tunnel. I'll talk to you later."

Then the line was dead, leaving Sarah in silence. _What didn't make any sense?_

There was chaos at the theatre. Some of the ballet dancers had come down with a virus so their alternates were trying to prepare. The Phantom's prosthetics kept falling off, and Sarah's Hannibal dress, the part that went on during _Think of Me_ , didn't want to fasten at the waist. They had less than an hour before show time.

Finally they got the clasps to work right and Sarah was ready. She waited in her dressing room, warming up her voice before the show.

It was seven minutes until she would have to make her way onto the stage when she noticed that flower again.

Gingerly she lifted it up and brought the petals to her nose once more. The scent was intoxicating. Unbidden an image came. She could see a ballroom full of silver décor. It was crowded full of people too beautiful to be real.

As suddenly as it came the image was gone, leaving Sarah gripping the stem of the flower tightly within her fingers. _What's wrong with me? I'm shaking._

Sarah's first reasoning was that she had seen the peach dream again, but the more she thought about it the more she decided that what she saw was different.

"Five minutes Ms. Williams." A stagehand announced, bringing Sarah back to reality.

That evening Sarah performed with more fervor than ever before. She felt an almost frantic yearning to lose herself in the part.

After curtain call Sarah stayed with her fellow actors to sign autographs and to take pictures with the fans.

There was a decent crowd gathered and Sarah kept her mask on, smiling her brilliant smile for all to see while inside she felt like she was sleepwalking.

She held her head up high and made the fans feel welcome, although to be honest most of the fans were really there to see the actor who was playing the Phantom. _Everyone loves the tortured villain._

Finally she found a spare moment and slipped away to her dressing room.

Once again she stood in front of the mirror inside and pleaded for her friends to come to her.

"Hoggle please, I know it has been eight years but I've never forgotten you or Ludo and Sir Didymus. Where are you? I need you, all of you. Please answer me. I need to talk to you.

I feel like I'm dreaming Hoggle, like I'm not awake even though I'm going through all of the motions of living. Every time I try to think, to really think about it everything gets blurry around the edges and the sensation feels so _familiar_.

Sir Didymus you _swore_ that you would always be by my side, that you were my protector. Where are you now?" Sara didn't register the tears flowing unbidden until her eyes started burning.

She was so tired. Her jade eyes had lost their luster. She loved the stage. She loved the part she was playing. So why did she feel like she wasn't really here? _I need sleep._

Sarah changed into her street clothes and joined the other cast members in celebrating another successful night. As always she was all brilliant smiles and sharp witty words while on the inside she felt numb.

She couldn't get the image of that ballroom out of her head. _It must have been one I went to somewhere in Europe. There were times I can't remember._

Fleetingly, her mind swept back to Linda and she fought the urge to call her back and demand answers. She knew full well though that her mother wouldn't answer. No one contacted Linda. Only she was the one who deigned to contact anyone.

Sarah knew she would have to wait until Linda decided she was worth her time before she could ask her about what she said. _You're not making any sense._

Everyone was drinking and laughing and Sarah had a glass of something in her hands. She didn't care what it was, just that it helped the blurry edges blur further still until she could forget the unease she felt.

There were always men hitting on her when she and her cast members went out. They were drawn in by Sarah's blazing jade eyes and magnetic personality. Still though, she sent all of them away.

That night she slept fitfully. She kept waking up, her heart pounding, and she was unable to remember what she had been dreaming of.

The next day she was off so Sarah decided she would take a cab down to her dad's house to see them and to take Toby some trinkets she had picked up for him.

Her father was working and Karen was more than glad for Sarah to arrive, stating that she could use a few hours of shop therapy. Sarah was only too happy to oblige. She loved her little brother dearly.

Toby was upstairs in his room. Sarah could hear him playing before she saw him.

He was the one constant thing in her life, the one thing that wasn't blurry around the edges. He had spent every summer in Europe with Sarah for the past four years.

"Toby?" Sarah asked as she knocked lightly on his door.

"Sarah!" Toby called out and swung his door open, brandishing a toy sword and grinning from ear to ear. His blonde hair was wild and his blue eyes were shining. "You're just in time for the battle! Grab your gear lieutenant. This army won't lead itself!"

It was too easy to get lost in Toby's little game. He had such an imagination. "Come on Tobes, let's go to the park to play. I'm thinking the battle should be held outside."

"Cool, can we walk there Sarah, like you used to with Merlin?"

The mention of Merlin made Sarah's breath hitch. It had been some years since her faithful companion had left her but it still hurt just the same.

"Of course Toby, let's go!" Sarah was all smiles even though the mention of Merlin had made the old wound start to bleed again.

Sarah was a little miffed at the dark clouds beginning to reign in the sky but she trudged on with Toby anyways.

It had been eight years since she had been to that same park she once played in as a girl. It was there she had recited her old story book _The Labyrinth_ before she had actually gone to that same mystical place to retrieve Toby.

Sarah paused at the pond even as Toby sped on, preparing for battle. She felt a strange sense of longing as she watched the ducks glide along the water there, standing on the stone bridge. _I was in Europe too long. The absence is making me too sentimental._

"Come on lieutenant, they're on the march!"

She laughed, "On my way General Williams."

Toby groaned, "No Sarah, _Prince_ Williams. I'm a _Prince._ "

"Sorry _Your Highness_ , how about we take care of this battle first and then we'll get back to the formalities?"

The pretend battle waged on for thirteen months, which was around thirty minutes actual time, before Sarah told him it was time to take a break.

Sarah sat on a stone bench, her legs pulled up to her chest, her head resting on her knees. Toby was lying on the grass, his gaze up at the cloudy sky. He turned then, his blue eyes latched on to Sarah.

"What's wrong Toby?"

"Nothing Sarah. Just thinking that I'd love to go somewhere I could _really_ play _storm the castle_."

Sarah frowned, sitting up. "What's wrong with the park Tobes? We had a great time."

Toby's gaze went back to the sky. He sighed loudly, dramatically. "What if there was some place better? Where I'm a prince and you're a queen, and we could play all day?"

Sarah giggled, joining Toby in the grass, "Then I'd be out of a job. If I could play all day I couldn't be on the stage doing what I love."

Sarah's gaze was focused on the dark clouds up above. She almost didn't register the sniffling next to her.

Leaning up on her side she looked at her little brother. "T-Toby what's wrong?"

Toby was trying hard to keep his tears in check, but when Sarah said his name he lost control. Suddenly he got to his feet and she could see the pain in his eyes.

"I'm going home." He sobbed and began running with Sarah barely able to keep up behind him.

"Toby! Stop, what's wrong? Please answer me!"

Eleven year old Toby was much harder to catch than he had been in the room with all the stairs at the Labyrinth. He made it home and back to his room before Sarah made it through the front door.

She knew to give him his space at that point. Closed doors between them was an understanding.

Instead she stood awkwardly by the stairs, trying to decide if she dared to go to her old room.

Finally she could bare it no longer and her manicured fingers swept along the banister as she walked up the stairs.

Her demure little door made her pause though. It had been a long time since she had been inside.

Upon opening it Sarah felt like she was transported back in time and she was a young girl again. Her father had kept everything the way it was just in case something ever happened and she had to move back home.

Tears spilled from her eyes as her gaze swept over all of the stuffed animals and her friend's likenesses. The figurine that looked like the Goblin King still sat at her vanity, oddly enough. _Why did I keep it there? He was the villain after all._

Sarah pulled out her chair and sat at her vanity. It looked untouched but there was no dust. There was no dust on anything in the room.

There it was, still tucked away was her copy of _The Labyrinth_. Sarah held it up and stroked the cover, a small smile playing on her lips. _I think it's time for Toby to have it. He's in need of adventure._

Sarah closed her eyes and sighed. For the first time in a long time she didn't have to worry about putting on her mask. Toby loved her regardless of how she felt on the inside and her room was safe and secure. It wrapped her up in memories.

Looking into her mirror, Sarah looked over her face for the first time in a while. She hadn't worn any makeup that day and she could see the dark circles threatening her eyes.

Then tentatively Sarah called out again, "Hoggle? Are you there? Can you hear me?"

She was gripping the book tightly in her fingers, hoping for a miracle.

There was only silence. _I should have known. My friends could find me anywhere. They didn't need this exact mirror._

Sarah felt like a lead weight was on her shoulders and so she stood up and crossed to her old bed.

She got halfway there before there was the smallest noise. Sarah's head jerked around suddenly alert, and she went back to the mirror.

"Am I dreaming?" The words came unbidden, breaking the silence.

Hoggle stood there in the reflection looking decidedly shameful.

"S-Sarah is that you? Is it really you?"

"Where were you Hoggle? All those years where were you when I needed you?"

Hoggle froze. It looked like he either didn't want to say the wrong thing or didn't know how to answer her so he answered with anger. "Your-Sarah I've been busy! I have grounds to keep after all. I can't be answering summons all the time."

Sarah felt like all of the air was squeezed out of her chest. "You were my friend! You always came when I called."

Hoggle shrugged, hiding his face. "Until I didn't. Hoggle needs no friends."

"Where are the others? Where's Sir-"

"Oh don't say his name Sarah! He can't come either. He can't know I'm here!"

Sarah paused, taken aback. "What do you mean he can't know you're here? Why?"

"Bye Sarah." Hoggle huffed and disappeared.

Anger flared through Sarah then. "Hoggle come back here this instant!"

There was a terribly unorthodox groaning but the dwarf appeared again. He was muttering something mostly unintelligible under his breath. Sarah caught the words _figures, Majesty,_ and _King._

"Does this have something to do with the Goblin King?" Sarah asked then, raising her eyebrows. Her jade eyes bored into Hoggle's.

"Sarah please," for a brief moment he let his guard down and he was her friend again. "Please don't ask questions, and don't call for me again."

"Why can't I call for you Hoggle? Why can't I ask questions?"

"I can't say no to you Sarah. You don't want to know the answers. Leave it at that."

"Please don't leave me Hoggle. I can't bear it. There's so much I want to tell you. I feel like I'm living in a dream, like I'm sleepwalking. Please."

Hoggle froze, "W-what do you mean? Your-Sarah, you really feel that way?"

There was a noise then on Hoggle's end. His eyes widened in fear. "Oh yes, I remember! I need to go control the fairy population at the gates."

Then he was gone without so much as another word.

Sarah was furious. She looked at the figurine that looked so much like the Goblin King and threw it across the room with a resounding crash.

"Sarah, are you okay?" Toby asked from her doorway. His voice caused her to jump, startled.

"How long have you been there Toby?"

"Hoggle's not a good liar." Toby stated.

Sarah froze. "You saw Hoggle?"

Toby shrugged, "yeah."

Sarah slowly stood up as a Toby would run if she moved fast enough. "He didn't scare you?"

Toby frowned, "why are you being so weird Sarah?"

That was the moment Karen opened the front door, calling for Sarah and Toby to come have lunch with her.


	3. Wildly My Mind Beats Against You

**AN: Still no Jareth huh? I may remedy that, in a** _ **sense**_ **in the next chapter or in this one. Or both. For now Sarah is still being literary-ly tortured with the dream quality of her life. XD**

 **Things are still moving slowly, this chapter is still short, but if that is the way it must be done then I must do it.**

 **I really hope if you're this far in you're enjoying my story even a little bit.**

Sarah's dreams began to take on an iridescent sheen. The peach dream was the most prominent one she had. In it she would be dancing with the Goblin King again, only if she looked closely he wouldn't look quite the same. It changed from time to time.

In one variation his coat was a midnight blue that sparkled and there was laughter in his eyes, his lips parted in a grin that stretched endlessly.

Sarah was wearing a dress of the same midnight blue as he twirled her around and around in their dance. They were in the center of the ballroom. All eyes were on them. It was dazzling. It was nothing like her poufy peach fantasy.

As sudden as the dream changed it shifted back to the peach dream once more where she was trying to find Toby. She always woke startled, her heart pounding in her chest, clutching her bed sheets so tightly her knuckles were white.

Her performances on stage continued to make sense of the strange fuzziness on the edges of her world. She gave it her all every time she stepped up there.

Strangely enough Sarah kept finding more of those same mesmerizing flowers awaiting her after every performance and soon her vase was full of them. She loved to look at them. She couldn't say why but the sight of them there before and after every performance set her at ease.

Sarah also discovered that Hoggle would indeed come, but only if she ordered him to. Even then he was less than forthcoming with any information as Sarah stood there begging him, tears flowing freely.

She could tell that it upset him to hear her explanations of the strange quality of her life so she knew there was hope that her friend was still there.

Once her vase became full she took the first set of flowers home with her. Another vase already had two more of those unique flowers. Sarah noticed that they never wilted. Instead they seemed to only shine brighter.

Her apartment was still sparse and lonely but the flowers gave it a small ounce of life. She smiled at them there on her island counter.

As she stood there in the deafening silence she wondered at her mother and Toby's behaviors.

Sarah was almost afraid to go to bed but she couldn't figure out exactly why she was. The dreams were harmless so why did she dread them?

She tried to stay awake sitting in her small den reading a book but eventually sleep won out and she trudged to her bedroom, promptly falling onto her bed.

This time the dream was pitch black. Sarah could see nothing but she could feel everything. She was being held close, safe and warm as hands trailed all over her bare body. Lips pressed against her neck, her shoulders, her stomach, and it left her breathless.

The arms pulled her close, holding her snug against the chest, her head nestled on a shoulder. Moan after moan escaped her lips as hips ground against hips, lips kissing her forehead, her cheeks, and finally meeting her own lips. The strong hands around her back held her close as her own hands wound around those same shoulders.

She woke gasping for air, alone in her room again. She was crying and this time she couldn't stop it from overflowing, drowning out the silence and solitude as she clutched her pillow close, burying her head and trying to calm down. _What's wrong with me? Why did a dream feel more real than anything I've felt these past few months?_

Sarah fought through the next day. They were having an emergency rehearsal. The woman playing La Carlotta had come down with the flu so her understudy was having to do a run through before the show that evening. That meant a full run through of the whole musical, top to bottom.

It gave Sarah something else to think about other than that dream. Admittedly it was hard to get off her mind. She just wished she could have seen whom she was with.

They had a two hour break before the crowds would gather for the evening performance. There were people who came to the theatre before time though and Sarah found herself outside with a few of her costars.

There were a few die-hard fans gathered around and they had agreed to answer any questions they had.

Sarah waited patiently, smiling. Most of the questions were for the man playing the Phantom. There were a few people there with questions for her though.

One of the fans was a younger girl who seemed to have dreams of the theatre and of playing Christine herself one day.

Sarah answered all of her questions with a smile on her face until the questions came back to Europe.

"So what theatre company did you join in Europe? Where was it located?"

Sarah started to answer her and then froze, shock coursing through her. _What? I can't remember._

Sarah had to apologize, excusing herself as she fled to her dressing room.

She immediately pulled out her phone, dialing her mother's number. There was no answer. She cursed and dialed again and then again, desperate to reach her.

Finally there was a reprieve. Linda answered.

"Yes Sarah? I'm very busy. There's a gala tomorrow and I'm preparing."

"What did you mean when I spoke to you last, that I wasn't making any sense?"

"Well you were talking nonsense Sarah! You never came to stay with me and you most certainly never joined my troupe."

"But that's not right Linda, I was there for seven years."

Linda scoffed on the other line, "well you most certainly were not with me Sarah."

Sarah stared, incredulous, and then the line went dead. Her mother had ended the call.

Shaking her head she prepared for the night's performance. She was shaking, her heart pounding in her chest. _What's going on?_

After the show was over Sarah went straight home, calling upon Hoggle as soon as she closed her door.

He appeared in her mirror looking apprehensive. He could see the panic in her eyes as well as the hard determination that was all Sarah.

"Hoggle I need to talk to you without your shields up. Come here."

"I am here Y-Sarah," He stated plainly.

Sarah frowned, "Why do you keep doing that? Every time I talk to you, you stammer my name."

Hoggle began to fade, leaving her, but Sarah was too upset. "No Hoggle! You're not running away this time. Come back."

To be fair, Hoggle tried to defy Sarah, crossing his arms at his chest. There was no denying her for long though, not when her jade eyes were blazing with passion.

"I need answers Hoggle. I need them now."

"N-no you don't Sarah, you don't know what you're asking."

Sarah frowned and began pacing. "There's something weird going on Hoggle. To be honest I'm frightened. It started a few months ago and it has continued to grow. When I'm awake I feel like I'm asleep. For a while I couldn't remember my dreams and now I'm remembering them. Hoggle, the only time I feel like I'm awake is in those dreams."

Hoggle swallowed hard, his eyes darting around nervously. "What kind of d-dreams Sarah?"

Sarah paused, a blush creeping up her cheeks before she shook it off. "Sometimes I'm back in the labyrinth again Hoggle, in that ballroom after I ate the peach and forgot Toby. I'm dancing with the Goblin King again. Only, sometimes I'll be in control of the dream and if I start to look harder things change.

At first it was simple, the clothes we were wearing had changed. Then I could tell I was older Hoggle, I wasn't the little girl in the dream anymore.

That's when it gets weird. The scenes would change, we would be in different places and every time our outfits would be different.

There-there was a time that stood out the most to me. It's the most bizarre dream of all. In it I'm wearing a gown more beautiful than the one I'm in during the last scene of _Phantom._ It's a bright white and more gorgeous than anything I could have ever dreamed up, and _he's_ there and we're dancing.

You and Ludo and Sir Didymus are there. _Toby_ is there but all I can focus on is _him_ Hoggle. I can't get him out of my dreams. In that dream we aren't dancing apart, we're close and he's _holding me_ to him as we glide along the dance floor. He's smiling and I'm smiling, and what's worse? I feel so safe and unafraid and _loved_.

Hoggle my hand is on his cheek as he sweeps me around the room. He's wearing a crown on his head Hoggle, and for the life of me I can feel something on mine and he's singing that song again Hoggle, the one he tricked me with in the ballroom. Only I was singing it along with him.

Then I've been dreaming _other_ dreams I won't tell you about but I'm beginning to wonder if he's the other part of them too. I can't see anything in those dreams though. Am I going crazy?"

Hoggle stood there in stunned silence. His eyes were wide with fear and worry. "Y-you can't stop the dreams at all Sarah? Have you tried?"

Sarah huffed, "of course I've tried! Do you think I want to dream about the _Rat_ in that way? He was the one who stole Toby after all."

Hoggle sighed then in audible relief. "Sometimes Sarah a dream is just a dream. No need to go worrying yourself into a panic over it."

Sarah stopped pacing then, walking over to her friend. He had finally let his guard down. "That's not all Hoggle. I thought that was it too but then something happened this evening before the performance."

The look of apprehension was back on Hoggle's face as fast as the relief had been. "What happened?"

Sarah allowed herself to sink to the floor, curling her legs up to her chest, her dark brown hair spilling over her arms. "I was asked a question by a fan, where was I in Europe for the past seven years, and I couldn't remember. I was just there last year right? Then I called Linda. Hoggle this is where things got weird. She said I had _never_ been there in Europe with her."

She paused then, burying her head in her knees, and then she looked back up to her friend. "These past few months have been so bizarre. I've felt numb, like I'm sleepwalking through life and then I discover that I was apparently never where I thought I was. I wake up crying, completely broken like I'm in mourning Hoggle.

Sometimes I start to feel that way when I'm awake. I feel like I'm broken. I put on a face for the people in my life and for my part on the stage but that's all it is, a mask.

Then I finally get to see you again and you shun me, tell me I can't see my other friends, and refuse to answer any of my questions. Why can't I call on them too? What's stopping me from doing it now?"

"Y-Sarah I told you already. Don't ask me questions you do not want to know the answers to."

Sarah frowned, realizing what he was saying. "Hoggle…you know what's going on don't you?"

"Oh no! No I do not. Hoggle knows nothing about _anything_. Leave it at that!"

The little dwarf paused then for a few moments, in deep thought. "L-listen Y-Sarah, if you keep dreaming those dreams, if you feel _funny_ call me immediately okay? I don't mean funny as in waking up crying I mean funny as in if it feels like your feet are falling asleep but it's all over or your head starts to swim. Call me if your stomach feels like its cramping but it ain't your womanly time, things like that okay?"

The way Hoggle asked that of her made her skin crawl. She could see the fear in his eyes so she nodded in assent, suddenly afraid to ask any more questions.

There was a rasp on Hoggle's cottage door and Sarah could hear the chirpy voice of Sir Didymus. Sarah started to call to her friend but Hoggle disappeared promptly.


	4. Let the Dream Descend

**AN: Adult content in this chapter. 'Nuff said. I don't normally do it to the extent I have done in this story, but there are reasons why I have.**

 **Things are picking up speed now. The plot doth thicken. XD**

 **Also, I tried for a teensy bit of humor in this chapter too. Poor Sarah has had it rough.**

 **My chapters do seem to be relatively short but I'm not really going for length here. This story is begging to spew out of me so I'll let it tell itself.**

 **Thanks for the reviews. I'm so glad you are enjoying my little story.**

The dreams continued to plague her sleep, drowning out anything else. So far the only dreams she had were of the ballrooms and the pitch black dreams full of passion.

Sarah then tried to contact the theatre she thought she had been a part of, thinking maybe her mother had lost her mind. They had no record of Sarah Williams though.

The theatre manager laughed at her, thinking her to be a deluded wannabe who thought she could pretend to be Linda's daughter and would get a free ride. She hissed at them to look up her name and the theatre where she was starring as Christine in and promptly ended the call.

She was shaking. With every new revelation she felt like her world was crumbling into dust. _What's real? Where was I for seven years where I can't remember?_

Sarah looked again to the vase full of the exotic flowers and felt a smile creep up her lips. No matter how much her world was spinning when she looked at them she felt grounded again.

It was another off day for Sarah, another day that could seemingly stretch into forever as long as she dwell on the bizarre circumstances surrounding her.

She sat on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to make sense of it all. _Hoggle knows something. The way he has been behaving is so strange. He keeps telling me not to ask questions, that I don't want to know the answers. Why wouldn't I want to know the answers? Does it have something to do with the dreams I've been having about the Goblin King? Did he have something to do with this? I wish I could see what's going on in those black dreams._

Sarah was asleep before she realized it.

Stars glittered across the sky. It was evening time and there was a musk of starlight that wafted through the air as a gentle breeze blew. Sarah stood at the door to the castle beyond the Goblin city.

She knew she was dreaming again, only this time none of her senses were denied to her. She could hear, smell, and feel everything although she could not control her body or her actions.

She looked down to see that she was wearing a flowing black skirt that reached the tops of her knees and a black tank top with matching black flats. They were normal clothes that she would wear every day. They weren't like the glittering gowns she was used to seeing in her dreams.

Her dark brown hair hung in loose waves down her back as she opened the doors to the castle. Sarah could feel her stomach twisting with nervousness. This dream version of her was tense.

The throne room was a mess. Goblins were partying, dancing around the room, consuming enough alcohol to shame the heaviest of drinkers.

"Sarah?" A single question hung on the air and the dream Sarah's gaze shot straight to the throne where the Goblin King himself sat. _He looks exactly as I remember him from my time in the labyrinth._

He made to get up but Dream Sarah shook her head, "Stay where you are Goblin King." _What? Why did I just say that?_

He frowned and stayed still, watching her intently. Sarah could only watch, wondering what was going on. None of her dreams before had actually had this much detail. She didn't have the slightest bit of control.

Dream Sarah looked around the room, to all the goblins, and called out a command to them all. "If you are not the Goblin King or Sarah Williams, leave the throne room immediately, chickens included."

There was a riot of defiance; none wanted to leave the party.

"Now!" Dream Sarah commanded, her voice sure and full of power. The goblins immediately obeyed, dragging their chickens with them as they fled.

Sarah was in awe of the dream version of herself, she felt powerful.

The Goblin King's eyes never left her. _I don't remember them being so beautiful, only different, mismatched and full of mischief_. "Sarah-"

"Quiet, Goblin King," Dream Sarah ordered and his mouth closed, surprised.

Sarah was very much in awe at this Dream Sarah bossing around her old villain.

Once the goblins and the chickens had left the room the two of them stared at each other in silence. Sarah would have given anything to know what Dream Sarah was thinking, what she was up to.

Sarah could only watch through her own eyes as she crossed the room, closing the distance to the being sitting on the throne. She couldn't help but notice the Goblin King had adorned those ten times too tight breeches again.

The Goblin King froze as Sarah arrived at the throne. Dream Sarah then did something that would have dropped Sarah's jaw to the floor if she had been in control of the dream _at all._ She climbed onto the throne and straddled the Goblin King, sitting on his lap.

The Goblin King started to speak again but Dream Sarah cut him off with a hard kiss to his lips, her fingers reaching for the blonde hair behind his head, grasping it tightly in her fingers and pulling back. _Woah Sarah, slow down girl_. _Oh he smells like peaches and sunlight._ Sarah thought she must have lost her mind to dream of him after all those years, and in that way.

She couldn't control the dream, but _oh could she feel it._

His response was immediate as he moved to encircle his arms around her, trying to deepen her kiss. Dream Sarah pulled back and held his arms down firmly.

"No." She denied him, her eyes boring into his.

The Goblin King's eyes were wide orbs of shock as Sarah moved slightly, rocking back and forth on his lap. She could _feel_ the effect she had on him almost immediately. _This was not what I was expecting when I wanted to know what was happening in those dark dreams._

Once again Dream Sarah went back to kiss the king, this time her hands worked their way deftly to remove his poet's shirt as if she had done it a hundred times before.

She could feel the tug of magic as he made to do _something_ but Dream Sarah glared at the king _._

"No magic, Jareth," She commanded and he nodded, his eyes drinking her in. _I sound so familiar with the Goblin King. I can't believe I'm dreaming this. He was so cruel._

Sarah was too aware of the heady scent in the air, of the velvet crush of his lips and the taste of his tongue dancing with hers as Dream Sarah took control again. Her hands were gripping his now bare shoulders even as she rocked back and forth against his _oh so tight breeches_. Sarah was very _very_ aware of those tight breeches and that she was in a skirt.

The Goblin King groaned against her mouth as Dream Sarah lifted up her tank top with slow sensual motions that had her wanting to take notes in case of an actual significant other in her life. In another smooth motion her bra was gone too and the Goblin King started to reach for her. She cut him off again, refusing him once more.

Sarah couldn't believe he was letting her boss him around like that even if it was a dream. The villain she remembered would have been in full control. There was just no way he would have ever even looked at her like that too, like she was some precious jewel he had in his grasp. _Love me, fear me, do as I say and I will be your_ slave. _Why am I thinking of this now? This is just a dream though…where oh where did this come from?_

Dream Sarah was evil, Sarah was sure of it. Who else would tease the _Goblin King_ in those ways as she was? Dream Sarah was biting, nibbling, sucking down the Goblin King's neck and shoulders, tasting the salt of his skin and the flavor that was all him. He was moaning against her as she moved her hips against him again and again.

Sarah felt as aroused by it as she was sure Dream Sarah felt. _What the hell, it's only a dream right? I've never had a dream where I could taste and feel and oh…_

When he moved to touch her again Dream Sarah grasped his hand in hers and held it firmly, her gaze meeting his. Sarah's breath caught, what it _could_ in a dream she had no control over. There was more than just lust in his gaze, there was devotion and love there too, as if all the stars shone in her eyes.

Dream Sarah then allowed his hands and mouth to roam over her chest, her shoulders, touching her and kissing her in all the ways she had never been touched before.

 _Side effect of virginity at twenty six? Has to be…_ Sarah thought, but his hands went up under her skirt, over her behind and then _around_ to the front, sliding up her inner thighs. Then her thoughts slipped to just the being in the dream and the feel of just where his hands had travelled as he drowned her with his eyes.

He tried to pull at the skirt on Dream Sarah but she cut him off with a shake of her head, moving instead off of him completely. She could see that she was in total control of the situation and he allowed it, his eyes drinking her in like she was the fountain of youth.

As slowly as she could she slid the skirt down, baring herself to him as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Finish undressing Goblin King." Dream Sarah commanded and he immediately sprang into action until he was as bare as she was as she climbed back up to her previous position on his lap.

Sarah _felt_ very much awake at that point as Dream Sarah kissed him hard on his lips again, her tongue meeting his as she gripped the back of his head again. Then there was a sharp joyous sensation as they joined together.

The Goblin King tried to move again but Dream Sarah held him down. She had full control over the motions of the dance they were dancing. Sarah marveled at the sensations she had yet to actually experience.

She felt everything like she was there. _It's just a dream, it's just a dream, but it feels soo…_ and then her senses overloaded and the Goblin King's groans turned into satisfied sighs as Dream Sarah moaned loudly, her head arched back.

 _Did I just just…have_ that _in a dream!?_ Sarah thought for a second even as wave after wave of pure ecstasy swept through her.

Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders and his arms held her close to him. Her legs were wrapped around him, holding him tightly to her as her chest pressed against his. She could feel the warmth of his body and the pounding of his heart against hers.

His head buried itself on her shoulder as he caught his breath, kissing her shoulder there even as Dream Sarah kissed the top of his head, stroking her hands through his long blonde hair.

"Sarah," He spoke then, his eyes imploring. This time she didn't stop him, "no one and I mean _no one_ has ever been allowed to order me around like you just did. You own me, body and soul."

Sarah could feel the smile that sprang to her lips as her jade eyes met his mismatched ones.

"You own me, body and soul," Sarah spoke then softly, lovingly, as her fingers swept across his cheek.

His eyes lit up like the whole of the universe was centered around the woman on his lap, his hands grasped her sides, the long fingers splayed over her ribs, "Is this your answer? Is this yes?"

Sarah was once again mesmerized as Dream Sarah nodded in affirmation, "Yes I will marry you Goblin King." _What did I just say?!_

He must have magicked them somehow because suddenly they were in what could only be his chambers, on his huge bed. The chambers were large, warm, and inviting.

Sarah marveled at the joy in his eyes as he held himself above her, kissing her with more passion than she thought possible.

"I thought I said no magic, Jareth, especially to get us to your chambers." Dream Sarah joked and he laughed then, leaning down to place another lingering kiss on her lips.

" _Our_ chambers Precious. Would you rather stumble naked through the castle?" He whispered in her ear and Sarah would have shivered if she had any say in anything during the dream.

She laughed, "Don't I get my own?"

The Goblin King smirked before biting gently down her neck, "Naturally the Queen gets her own chambers Sarah. But you already knew that."

"I did. I was only confirming since I've been thinking that I may need them for the sole purpose of you having more outfits than me," Dream Sarah spoke slyly.

 _This feels like only part of a whole story. This doesn't feel like a dream._

"Oh you cruel Precious Thing," The Goblin King laughed against her neck as that sharp sweet sensation swept through her again as he moved against her, and Sarah gasped in pleasure.

The Goblin King was the one in control of the dance that time and Sarah suddenly didn't want to wake up. Nothing in reality could be as good as her dreams. _How could it get better the second time around?_

There was a strange chiming in the dream though and Sarah groaned as the dream began to fade away. Her phone was beside her head ringing loudly.

She woke out of breath, and bitterly disappointed that she didn't get to reach the conclusion of said dream. She could still feel his hand on the back of her head, holding her steady as his other hand held him above her, his hips moving in rhythm against hers.

The phone continued to chime, it was her father. _Oh he's the very last person I want to talk to after_ that!

Still though she answered the phone, her eyes closed as the world swam around her.

"Sarah honey, we need a sitter tonight, I have an overnight business meeting and Karen is going to go with me. I know you're off today and tomorrow so I thought we would offer it to you since you and Toby have such a good time together. Would you like him to stay the night with you?"

Sarah laughed, _always staying home with the baby._ Her father was never one for sugar coating anything he asked of her."Actually I wouldn't mind coming home and staying the night there. That way Toby won't have to leave his toys behind."

"Excellent Sarah, is Four O'clock an okay time?"

Sarah grinned, "I'll head your way soon Dad."

Sarah sat in bed a while longer, going through her dream again and again. _Where did that come from? It felt so real. How is it that I can still feel him even now?_

When she stood up she had the strangest sensation. It was like her head was swimming and she felt like she was going to fall over. The sensation was gone in an instant though. She shook her head, _that's absolutely nothing to tell Mr. Worrywort about._


	5. Our Games of Make Believe are at an End

**AN: Poor poor Sarah. That was one vivid dream huh? I wonder what's in store for her now? Am I fond of angst? Maybe. Tragedy? Definitely. Hoggle being constantly teased about being suspended into the Bog of Eternal Stench? Hell yeah. XD**

 **There is a LOT of dreaming in this chapter. There is going to be some very real waking up (and more dreaming) happening in the next chapter though so time to bring it all forward.**

 **Also, it's a safe bet that there will be random Adult Situations as the story progresses. Once again, there is a rhyme and a reason. XD**

The cab ride back to her childhood home was long. Sarah had the strangest sensation of floating that would sweep through her head before it would cease.

Toby was waiting for her on the porch. He stood at the ready, his blonde hair mussed with a pretend sword at his hip.

Sarah smiled at him. He knew how to command attention.

"Your Majesty, I'm here at your command." Sarah play bowed to her brother whose face lit up.

"I'm not really the kind of prince that does the commanding. I'd rather go and kick some chickens!" He laughed, causing Sarah to roll her eyes.

"Did you read that book I gave you?"

"That story again? Sarah you used to read it to me all the time when I was a baby. I feel like I've been there."

 _You have Tobes,_ Sarah wanted to say but she held off as a feather-light dizziness swept through her.

Throughout the rest of the evening Sarah couldn't shake the odd sensations that had begun to pulse through her.

She would be standing at the kitchen popping yet another bag of popcorn for the endless appetite that was Toby when there would be a terrible sharp pain in her stomach. She would grasp onto the kitchen counter, gritting her teeth until the moment ended.

She pulled her mask back on though and smiled and laughed with her little brother over the movies they were watching.

Her mind kept flitting back to the dream again though. She didn't know if she wanted to get it out of her head. It seemed the perfect fantasy, completely unreal and wonderful. Nothing in her world could ever be that good. She replayed it over and over again in her mind even as another bout of dizziness crept forward.

That night, when Toby finally decided to give it up and head to bed, Sarah felt almost reluctant to go up the stairs to her old bedroom.

When she did she felt almost the young girl again, naïve and unsure. Her bed welcomed her though. She almost thought about calling on Hoggle but her mind went back to that dream. _I wish I could see more like that. It's fantasy so it doesn't matter if it's him right? It's make believe._

For a long while sleep wouldn't come. Sarah couldn't get comfortable in the bed as the pains in her stomach would come back at regular intervals. They made her feel sick.

When sleep finally made its way to Sarah she did find herself back in the labyrinth. She noticed immediately that the dream was just like the other. She was a spectator trapped in her own body.

She was waving goodbye to her friends before she wound her way through the labyrinth to the castle. _He_ wasin the city though, leaning against one of the stone houses that lined the streets.

"You again? Do you _ever_ leave my labyrinth?" His tone was more playful than mocking.

"You are the one who allowed me to come back whenever I wished to see my friends Jareth." Dream Sarah answered immediately while placing a hand on her hip. She was trying and failing not to smile.

"Yes, but did I give you permission to always visit me too? You come to pester me every time you go to see those three." The Goblin King was trying hard to hide his smile and Sarah could feel the smile on her own face. _So this dream is different._

"Jareth, you're my friend too and you know it." _So we're_ friends _in this dream?_

He grinned at her then, his canines exposed. _Why is it that I had to dream him up to realize how delicious he looks?_ "Come along then. I know you're chomping at the bit to ask me a million questions and I have work to do."

Dream Sarah smiled and followed along as he wandered through the Goblin City. He was conjuring crystals and making repairs or alterations as he saw fit. Everything was clay in his hands.

Dream Sarah watched intently for a while and Sarah was just as excited as to see these new things about her beloved Labyrinth even if they were all a figment of her imagination.

Then she began asking questions, the Goblin King chuckling good-naturedly and answering them as best as he could for her.

"So how big is your kingdom? Is it just the Labyrinth and the Goblin City?"

"No Sarah, it is much larger. Your challenge only took place in a fraction of it."

"What all is out there? Are there different creatures or places like this one?"

The Goblin King laughed, pausing in his wanderings at one of the turns in the stone part of the maze. "Sarah I think you would live here if you could. There are many different creatures that reside in my Kingdom but I am predominately the _Goblin_ King."

"How many kingdoms are there? Are there others like you?" _Good question Dream Me._

Jareth crossed his arms at his chest and leaned against the wall next to one of the Eye Mosses. "There are many, many, kingdoms Underground Sarah, and as much power and magic as I hold I too was conceived."

Sarah felt the blush at his answer, and she couldn't help but notice the change in his expression.

"My kingdom is one of the larger ones because I have the Labyrinth. With it, I have the power to control dreams and grant wishes as I see fit as you're well aware of."

"So there's so much more to see and I've only seen one part of it?"

He nodded, one of his gloved fingers tapping his mouth in thought.

"Sarah," He asked tentatively, "Would you like to see a new part of it this evening?"

Dream Sarah's eyes lit up, Sarah could feel the excitement. "I would love to."

"There is a place you may like called the Singing Waterfalls. I can tell you how to get there and you can gather up your friends and go or-." He paused then, unsure.

"Or what Jareth?"

His eyes met hers, pleading silently, "You could go with me."

 _So Dream King is giving Dream Me a choice, interesting. Penny for my own Dream Thoughts._

Sarah smiled and walked toward Jareth holding out her hand, "Let's go Goblin King."

His answering smile melted Sarah's heart as he reached out and took her hand in his. She wished she had control of the dream but alas she was but an observer.

Within an instant the scenery had changed. They were standing in a clearing in a forest. Giant trees dotted along the landscape.

"I thought you'd like to walk to the waterfalls instead of just shimmering there as you call it."

Dream Sarah nodded, taking his offered arm and followed him down a path through the dark trees.

The walk was pleasant, the sun beginning to slowly descend from somewhere above the canopy.

Creatures darted along the forest, most of them stopping to bow to their king before running back into the trees. There were all sorts and Sarah stopped to meet them all. Jareth stood there and rolled his eyes while laughing at her, his arm holding her to him. Sarah decided that even though it was a dream she liked that feeling.

There was a sound like wind chimes and harps. Sarah's head shot up to Jareth who smiled knowingly. _I can't believe a dream can be so detailed._

"Are those the Singing Waterfalls?"

"Yes Precious."

They came to the bottom of the trail where there was a large clearing. Enormous waterfalls encircled three parts of the clearing with the way they came as the only way out.

"These are the Singing Waterfalls as I have mentioned before, but what you are seeing isn't water. You are seeing musical thought all gathered from dreams and made liquid here. They can't really be made solid because music is very much fluid by itself."

Dream Sarah noticed all of the closed up flowers dotting along the meadow they were standing in. "What's with all of those flowers? Do they not bloom?"

Jareth nodded, bending over to look at one of the closed buds. "They've not bloomed once since I began my rule here. They're called Starlight Blooms. I've never seen one that wasn't a drawing. It's said that when they do bloom it's at night and they shine like the stars."

"That's amazing. I wonder why they haven't bloomed?"

Jareth shrugged his shoulders, suddenly avoiding looking at Sarah, "Who knows Sarah? Maybe they're waiting for something."

Sarah strode forward to the massive waterfalls and closed her eyes to the music they produced. It was so strange and otherworldly and very much of _this world. I can't believe I'm dreaming this._

There was movement behind her and then a gloved hand was on her back. Sarah felt herself shiver through the dream at the gentle pressure and the smells that stole through the evening air.

When she opened her eyes she saw that the Goblin King was watching her closely, his mismatched eyes taking in every detail.

"This is wonderful Jareth. Thank you for taking me here."

"I would do anything for you Sarah," He spoke softly then.

Sarah turned to him, his hand still on her back. "You really mean that too don't you?"

"I always have."

"Jareth, can I ask you something and you answer in complete honesty?"

"I am your slave." Was his immediate reply, his eyes trying not to convey his emotions even as his gloved hand held her closer.

"Back when I ran the labyrinth you sent Hoggle to give me the peach that took me to the ballroom. Was the whole thing only a trick to keep me from remembering Toby?" _Oh, good question Dream Me. I've always wondered about that. Then again the answer would be a fantasy and not reality since I've never seen him since. I'm sure he hates me._

Jareth sighed then and moved away from Sarah as if he was suddenly unsure. Dream Sarah reached out and pulled him back.

"Answer me Jareth."

"You're asking questions I'm not sure you want the answers to." _Now I know where this dream is coming from. He sounds like Hoggle._

"I do."

"The answer was within the fantasy Sarah, not all of it was a lie. Just because it was a means to make you run out of time doesn't mean anything in it was any less true."

"What about the song you sang when we were dancing?"

"I think you know the answer to that or you wouldn't be here standing next to me."

That answer made Dream Sarah hold her breath and Sarah was in shock. _So, in this dream the song was true. That's such a lovely fantasy._

"What about when I was in the Escher room and you were singing again, and then when I told you that you had no power over me, what of that was real?"

He started to turn away but Dream Sarah reached out and took his arm again, turning him back around. The sun had almost gone down all the way, only a few stray rays of light remained.

"Answer me Jareth, don't you dare shimmer away right now."

He chuckled, "you are the most stubborn creature in the Underground. What if I said it was all a ploy to get you to give up Toby, to lose so that I could keep him and turn him into a goblin?"

Dream Sarah let go of his arm. Suddenly her mood had turned sour. _Am I about to cry?_

"Oh," Dream Sarah murmured. Suddenly the ground was fascinating.

There was a soft caress of smooth leather and fingers tilted her chin up.

"What if I told you that every word I said back then was true?" Jareth's eyes searched hers and then in a heartbeat his head had tilted down and his lips were on hers.

The kiss was slow and deliberate, and Dream Sarah immediately moved so he could wrap his arms around her. She answered back with her own lips tangling with his.

His lips were soft and yielding against hers. _I don't ever want to leave this dream. I don't want to wake up._

Softly his tongue darted out, asking permission and Sarah granted it as her arms went up to wrap around his neck.

The sun had since gone down and with it the stars seemed to shine on top of them. The broke the kiss and looked around.

All of the Starlight Blooms had opened into a mesmerizing field of light.

 _They are so beautiful._ Sarah started to think as Jareth bent down and picked one off the ground, holding it up so Sarah could see it closer. It looked so familiar to her, but in the dream she couldn't place it.

"Won't that kill it if you pick it?" Dream Sarah asked as Jareth handed the flower to her.

Jareth was smiling, "Once these flowers bloom it is forever. They will never wilt and never close back up now."

Dream Sarah reached out and took the flower in her hands. The petals were feather light and so delicate.

"I don't ever want to forget this." She whispered.

Jareth moved his hands, conjuring a crystal in his palms.

"What's that for?" Sarah asked, her eyes meeting his.

"It's a gift," Jareth spoke then as he held out the crystal for Sarah.

Without thinking Dream Sarah reached out and took the crystal, holding it in her hands. It popped as if it was only a bubble. In its place was a delicate silver chain that held onto a tiny crystal ball pendant.

"Jareth it's beautiful, but why?"

He grinned then, "it's a crystal, nothing more. But-"

Quickly he placed the chain around Sarah's neck and then his fingers went to the pendant, sliding it off from the little owl figure that held onto the crystal. "If you take the crystal off it will show you your memories."

Once the crystal was removed from the chain it grew into one like the others Jareth had. "Sarah you don't even have to remember everything about your memory to see. That's where the magic kicks in. All you have to do is think about what memory of yours you'd like to see and it will show you as if it was one of those plays you love so dearly and you were in the audience watching yourself."

Dream Sarah giggled then, "So like if my whole life was filmed right? That's what you're getting at."

"Do you like it?" The question was sudden and her gaze moved to meet his.

Sarah didn't answer. Instead she reached up and pulled Jareth back down to her. He immediately responded and swept her up into another kiss. The only witnesses there were the Singing Waterfalls and the Starlight Blooms even as the fantasy faded away.

Waking up from a dream such as that was tragic. Sarah had never felt as empty in her life as the morning light broke through her childhood bedroom's window.

Unbidden tears streamed down her face. _Why are my dreams becoming so detailed like that? Now all I want to do is sleep and dream again. I could live in my dreams._

Try as she might she could not shake the dreams from her mind. She stayed in her room staring at the ceiling when she happened to think of the figurine she had that held the Goblin King's likeness. She had thrown it across the room the last time she was there.

Sarah crossed the room and picked it up, studying its features. _I remember fantasizing about the Goblin King before I ran the labyrinth. Then he became the villain and all that changed so why am I imagining him that way again now?_

The strange pains and feelings from the night before were still there throughout the day. It made it hard for Sarah to concentrate. She had originally planned on going clothes shopping since her wardrobe was in dire need of updating, but she wound up just going back to her apartment.

Her head was swimming and her stomach was on fire. She just wanted to disappear.

The next dream overtook her almost as soon as she crossed over into sleep that night.

The stone walls of the labyrinth twisted endlessly as Sarah found herself running along their corridors. In that dream she was wearing a flowing red dress of fabric that was softer than any she had ever felt in her life that reached above her knees. Strangely enough the necklace that Dream Jareth had given her in the last dream was around her neck in this dream.

Laughter emanated from her lips as she turned a corner just as a shock of blonde hair appeared behind her.

She felt carefree and almost powerful. Even in sleep the area of the labyrinth she was in was unmistakable. She could almost see the cleaners chasing her away.

Suddenly there was a force behind her and she found herself being pushed up against the glittery stone wall. Her legs encircled the Goblin King's waist as his mouth claimed hers.

The kiss was frantic with need and yearning. It was breathtaking, wonderful, and tasted glorious.

"I missed you," the words spilled from the king as Sarah felt the dress slide up over her hips. _Oh, another one of those dreams then._

"I was only gone for a month Jareth." Sarah sighed against his lips as he devoured her.

"Precious a month is entirely too long a time, and then you make me _chase you?_ " He muttered as he kissed down her neck, one of his hands free to divulge Sarah of the only thing barring them under her dress.

She sighed against the hot breath on her neck as the sharp pleasant pressure once again greeted her. _Does it feel this good in reality?_

Between the moans that she couldn't hold in as he moved against her, Sarah answered him, "Jareth it's not _my_ fault _you_ failed to mention to your mother in our _three_ years as Bonded that I had never been to the Fertility Festival. You didn't tell me you wouldn't be allowed to go and it would last _so_ long. You know she's _obsessed_ with us giving her a grandchild."

The Goblin King groaned against her as his hips moved in rhythm with hers, "A feat you're hindering Love, by bringing my mother into the conversation during _this._ "

Just as suddenly as the dream came it ended as Sarah sat upright in bed, pain splitting through her head. She couldn't stop the scream as it tore through her. Everything seemed to take on a silver sheen and her vision swam dangerously.

 _What's happening?!_ Sarah had time to think before she fainted.

When Sarah came to she felt leaden with weight. She was too afraid to sit up. There were shooting pains in her stomach, and she couldn't stop the tears from spilling.

She thought for a second of calling Hoggle, but what could he do?

What hurt Sarah the most was having to call the theatre and tell them she couldn't make it. It was the first time she had ever missed a show.

Sarah struggled to her bathroom to fetch something to knock her out for a few hours. She took the medicine and finally made it back to bed as a new sensation swept through her. It hurt. A lot. It felt as if her foot had fallen asleep, only it spread through her whole body.

All she knew to do was grit her teeth and let sleep descend where she could dream of sweeter things.

They were in the clearing with the singing waterfalls again. Sarah was wearing that gorgeous white gown she had seen in her other dream at the ballroom. The crystal necklace was still around her neck.

Her hands were joined with Jareth's as a gorgeous woman with striking black hair wound a ribbon around their hands using magic. Sarah could feel the flutter of the magic, the soft electric warmth as it crept along her skin.

It was night and those flowers were sparkling all along the meadow. Sarah only vaguely noticed that they were surrounded by creatures. There were beautiful women and men dressed like nobility in dazzling gowns and striking suits much like the kind Jareth was fond of. She did notice Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus stood the closest to her while a handful of very blonde women and two men stood on the Goblin King's side.

There was a little blonde head standing beside Ludo, holding his huge hand, Toby. Only he looked like the little five year old cherub he once was. _Okay, this is different._

Sarah's attention was drawn back to the king standing in front of her. His eyes were focused only on her as the black haired woman worked her magic.

There was a strange fluttering that swept through Sarah and the ribbon glowed gold and then disappeared.

"For now and forever, may the Bonded stand strong. Welcome to the Underground, Sarah of the Above, may your partner share in you all that is his, his crown and his magic shall be of you and you of him."

Jareth placed an arm around Sarah's waist and pulled her to him, his warmth comforting and sure. Sarah reached up and touched his cheek with the back of her hand.

"Forever may we stand strong. I, Sarah, do so now and forever belong here in the Underground with Jareth King of Goblins. May he share in all that he is and I will give him all that I am." Sarah found herself speaking, full of emotion and love.

Then Jareth spoke, his eyes never leaving hers. "Forever may we stand strong. I, Jareth, heir to the Underground and King of the Goblins, ruler of the Labyrinth, share in you Sarah everything that I am. My magic and my kingdom are yours. My life is in your hands."

The dark haired woman looked to the small crowd gathered around them and in her hands appeared a dainty crown adorned with crystals. Then the woman placed the crown on Sarah's head. "I present to you the newly bonded: The Goblin King and Her Majesty, the Goblin Queen, heirs to the Underground."

Jareth placed his arm around her waist as the crowd descended upon them.

First came her dear friends with Toby in tow. He was grinning up at Sarah, his blue eyes bright.

"So does that make me a prince?" He asked as Sarah took him into a hug.

Jareth laughed out loud, as did some of the others in the crowd.

"Prince Tobias. How does that sound?" He asked the young boy.

Toby grinned, "How about Your Majesty?"

Sarah started laughing then, followed by Jareth and the others.

Hoggle was next, bowing low. "I never thought I'd see the day that you would rule me Sar-Your Majesty."

"Hoggle I'm still Sarah."

The dwarf shook his head. "Nope, nah-ah. I ain't about to call you anything else since you are the queen now."

Jareth's arm tightened around her waist and she leaned into him as Sir Didymus made his way forward. He too bowed low and proclaimed that he would be Sarah's personal protector when the king was away.

Finally, Jareth turned to Sarah and she could see nothing else but the love in his eyes.

"I never dreamed that the bratty young girl who ran my labyrinth and won would become Bonded to me."

Sarah winked at him as he pulled her close, his head dipping down low. "Funny, I never thought that the Evil King from my fairy story would become my whole world."

Jareth smirked, "Precious you have to admit," and then his lips went to her ear. "You were already obsessed with me back then."

Sarah snorted, "Who stalked who as a barn owl before she ran the labyrinth? And I was _young_ too."

"And you're a woman now, and my wife after this evening. Should we go and consummate our Bonding now or later?"

Sarah felt a delicious shiver sweep through her, "I'm ready to dance Goblin King…but not until after the ball." And then she left him standing there, shimmering herself away to the gala they were holding in the ballroom in the castle.

Sarah noted immediately the masquerade theme. It was not unlike those years ago when she was just a girl and he was alien and mystical to her.

There were no goblins or creatures in the ballroom, only Fae. They were dancing and laughing, consuming too much alcohol as they played pranks on each other. It was a wonderful sight. She was no longer a stranger too young to understand their adult games. She belonged there.

She had made it there before Jareth, feeling mischievous as she wove through the crowd. She could feel _his_ magic swimming through her veins. It was a part of her.

Sarah walked past a couple who were heavily making out against a column, and magicked a goblin to appear kissing the man instead of the woman. She shook with laughter as she walked away from them, wondering what she would do next.

"Tricks like that and someone will think you're the Goblin Queen," a voice whispered in her ear and an arm slid around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

"Are you wearing enough glitter darling?" Sarah purred as she turned to face him.

He was smirking at her as he held out a white gloved hand. Sarah took his hand and was immediately swept up in a dance.

Everyone turned to watch the Goblin King with his new Queen as they spun along the dance floor. The dream was eerily similar to another one she had. Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Toby were there watching.

Sarah heard someone talking, _mentioning_ that they had heard she was an actress and a gifted singer Aboveground. All around them the other Fae began to ask the couple to sing, since that was one of the things Jareth was known for.

"Shall we Sarah?" Jareth asked her, laughter in his eyes.

"Of course. Our song?"

"It's only fitting." He purred back again, spinning Sarah, and the same music she remembered from her peach dream started up.

Their voices melded together in perfect harmony as they sang the familiar song. All eyes were on them. They didn't miss a beat in the dance even as they sang.

When the song ended there were cheers and clapping and then another song started up. Jareth's expression had changed.

His lips were on hers in an instant, claiming her as he pulled her close. There was a sudden quiet. Sarah broke the kiss and looked around. They were back in the same chambers she had seen in the first dream she had when she had went to him in his throne room.

The stars were shining from the massive stone windows overlooking the kingdom, moonlight shining in as he swept her off her feet. He carried her to the bed, his eyes dark with intent as her back met the soft mattress.

It was Sarah that called upon magic to dispose of their impeding clothes. His mouth claimed hers once again, her hands in his hair. He kissed down her neck, along her collarbone, and further still as she wiggled beneath him.

His back was soft against her hands as she ran her fingers over his body. His lips were glorious over her skin, warm and teasing. His hands were better still, massaging her skin as he traveled downward.

She found herself moaning against his touches, writhing against him as he worked his way over her.

Suddenly his mouth was back on hers, pulling her close as he moved against her in one sharp motion. Sarah couldn't stop the satisfied moan from escaping her lips as he began moving. She was moving with him too, her arms wrapped around his neck as their lips touched again.

She felt safe and secure and loved as they moved together. He broke from the kiss as he began to move faster, and she felt something building within her.

Then there was a moment of pure ecstasy. Wave after wave washed over her as he buried his face in her shoulder as his own swept through him.

His eyes found hers as she caught her breath. "I love you Sarah."

"I love you Jareth."

Intense nausea brought Sarah out of her dream. She was back in reality where something was horribly wrong with her.

Rolling over in bed, Sarah emptied the contents of her stomach into the small waste basket at the head of her bed.

She was shaking all over and fear overtook her. _I just want to go back to sleep where I can live in my fantasy. I think I know why I dreamed this dream since Toby has been pretending we were royalty but why did this dream connect to the others? Normal dreams don't connect. I was wearing the necklace again._

 _I don't understand though. It was just a dream. Why was there so much detail? It didn't feel like a dream. The others didn't feel like dreams either. I just want to go back to sleep and see him again._

Sarah was crying against the pain as she lay against her pillows. _Even before I started having all of these strange pains I was miserable. I was acting, doing what I love but it always felt like something was missing, like I wasn't really awake. I feel like something is changing, first the thing with Mom, and then seeing Hoggle again._

Pain gripped Sarah and she screamed against it. She was sweating, and that asleep sensation had started to creep back through her body. _Am I dying?_

 _Okay, maybe I do need to call Hoggle. I don't think I should be alone anymore, and I get the feeling a doctor won't be able to help me._

Slowly Sarah stood up, fighting the surge of dizziness that hit her. She made her way to her dresser mirror and stood before it.

"H-Hoggle?"

He appeared instantly. She could see the inside of his cottage. "Been a while since you called me S-," He finally really looked at her.

"Oh no! Sir Didymus!" Hoggle called out, sounding like it did when they ran from the cleaners, and the little knight crashed through the cottage door, sword branded.

Sir Didymus saw where Hoggle was looking and caught sight of Sarah for the first time. "YOUR MAJESTY!"

"SHUT UP!" Hoggle screamed back at the knight, hitting him on the head with a plate he had grabbed.

Sarah froze as her head swam dangerously, "W-what did you just call me?"

And then everything went black.


	6. Dreaming of You Won't Help Me to Do

**AN: Okay okay, I really love my dark twisty stories. So there will finally be actual non-dream Jareth interaction. Aside from what I knew I wanted to happen when I started writing this story it has actually grown and began to take its own lead. Not without some thwunking. XD**

 **Apparently it has beaten me at my own game so now I have Sarah actually singing two of the songs from The Phantom of the Opera, I'm not just placing random song lyrics as she's thinking them so if you haven't watched it before, she sings** _ **Think of Me,**_ **and** _ **Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.**_ **They are both lovely Christine songs and well worth a listen to if it's the 25** **th** **Anniversary edition. (I don't like the movie.)**

 **And some more M RATED content in this chapter. It just kind of happened okay? I certainly wasn't expecting it.**

Sarah slept without dreaming for the first time in a long time. It was a deep calming sleep.

When she woke she noted how feather light her bed felt. She sank deeper into the covers, not bothering to open her eyes. She was afraid if she opened them the pain would start again.

Finally though, Sarah began to figure out that she was not in her bed. Slowly she opened her eyes and came face to face with Hoggle.

He sighed audibly in relief, a hand going to his forehead. "Oh you're awake. Thought for a few hours there we'd lost you forever."

Sarah sat up in the bed, her eyes taking in the room, _chambers_ , before her.

The walls were all a lovely chestnut brown with hues of green and gold interlaid with images of the labyrinth. The bed Sarah was on was in the middle of the room. It was a large canopy bed with posts that were made to look like trees. The drapes were an emerald green.

The duvet was a jade green. The chambers were large and warm and comfortable. The stone floors were even made with a golden brown tint. _Where am I?_

"Hoggle what happened?"

Immediately the dwarf's eyes became guarded and he looked everywhere but to Sarah. "Well, you've been poisoned Sarah. Don't worry I called His Majesty and he brought you here to the labyrinth to help you. He was nice enough to let you stay in his Queen's Chambers while you stay here."

"Poisoned? How was I poisoned?"

Hoggle shrugged, "Beats me."

"Hoggle, I remember seeing Sir Didymus. He looked at me and said-."

"Oh that!" Hoggle started, throwing his arms up, "He was calling _His_ Majesty to come and help you, that's all."

Sarah paused, frowning. She definitely remembered Hoggle yelling at Sir Didymus to shut up and then hitting him.

There was a charge in the atmosphere and suddenly Sarah's blood froze. She knew it was _him_ before she saw him.

He stood leaning against the door frame. His face a calm mask as his arms crossed over his chest. He betrayed nothing but a cold indifference.

"Hoghead seems to think you were in danger. Being the generous King that I am I came to assist you."

It was so bizarre to see him so indifferent after all of those dreams she had. _They were just dreams Sarah, nothing more._

Always the courteous one, Sarah muttered thank you even as a new wave of dizziness hit her. The world tilted violently. She closed her eyes against the sensation and dropped back onto her pillows.

Jareth was there in an instant, standing above her. His eyes raked over her. Sarah felt a warm rush of magic and the dizziness eased.

"Thank you," She whispered as the world tilted once more.

He didn't say a word to her as everything became dark once more. She could almost swear she heard him talk to Hoggle, his voice sounding defeated. "It has started."

When Sarah came to once more, night had fallen on the labyrinth. She felt a bit stronger so she stood up and crossed the room to look out of the stone windows.

 _I finally feel like I am awake, not just sleepwalking through those months after Europe…but Europe never happened did it? I felt so lost._ Looking around the chambers she was in, Sarah felt a sense of calm. _I feel like I'm home._

Sarah turned and found a change of clothes waiting for her at the foot of her bed. She had a feeling there was a bathing chamber attached to the room so she took her clothes and headed straight for them.

Once she was cleaned and felt a modicum of relief from the swimming in her head she left the chambers. She found herself in an elaborate hallway that opened into a set of royal stairs.

Without thinking Sarah turned and headed in a direction. She felt like it was the way to go and discovered herself at the foot of the stairs at the throne room.

The Goblin King wasn't there as she had thought he would be. The throne room was empty as she walked inside. It looked just as it did when she was sixteen, all dirt and chaos without the goblins.

"You should be in bed Sarah," The Goblin King spoke and Sarah turned to see him on his throne in the second she had looked away.

"What's happening to me?"

Jareth paused and Sarah could almost see his own mask going up. _Masquerade, every face a different shade. Masquerade, look around there's another mask behind you._

"You've been poisoned as Hoggle said. There is no mortal cure for it, nor is there a magical cure. I can prolong the damage, keep it at bay, but I cannot stop it."

Sarah backed up against the wall, her hand going to her chest. It made so much sense. Jareth stayed seated on his throne, his face emotionless.

"How was I poisoned? Wouldn't I have remembered it?"

He looked up at her then, his mismatched eyes cold. "I've no idea how you wormed your way into your current predicament. I'm merely assisting you since you beat my labyrinth before. Nothing more." And then he waved his hand at her. She knew he was done speaking with her then.

Her heart hurt. She wanted to run, to disappear back into her dreams. _My dreams…_

"Y-Your Majesty I've been having these strange dreams."

His head shot up to look at her, his expression was steel. "Yes?"

"They're not like normal dreams. It's almost like I'm really there. I hear, see, smell, and _feel_ everything. I don't understand it."

The Goblin King scoffed, "Those would be the effects of the poison. Your dreams are _just_ dreams."

"They didn't feel like dreams," Sarah spat out, anger rising in her chest.

He shrugged, conjuring a crystal, paying her no mind. "Whatever they felt like I can assure you they were just dreams."

"Wouldn't you like to know what they were about?" Sarah asked then, feeling brave for a moment.

She saw it for a fraction of an instant. He flinched, and then he rolled the crystal up his arm and made it disappear. Her mind kept going back to a certain throne dream she had had.

He stood then and crossed the room to her, his gaze cruel. "Those silly dreams you are dreaming of are only dreams I can assure you. I brought you here to help assuage your suffering. I care not for your _fantasies._ "

Then he disappeared in a heartbeat, leaving Sarah alone. She turned and walked back to those chambers where she crawled into the big bed, finally letting her emotions take hold.

Tears came unbidden and she felt a sense of release as she cried. She cried for hours, letting her feelings like grief pass through her. _What was I expecting, that the dreams were more than that? They were dreams Sarah! He was the perfect fantasy in your dreams but in reality he doesn't care about you. He hasn't seen you since you were sixteen._

Then another realization dawned on her. _I'm dying. That's what he was saying. He said he could help ease the pain a little but the end result would be the same._

There was something else though, some nagging feeling at the back of her mind.

Sarah wondered if she would dream of him again after he was so cruel to her as her eyelids became heavy and sleep washed over her.

When Sarah opened her eyes she was back in the queen's chambers again. She tried to move before realizing this was another dream. _Well here's the proof I needed that it was all just a fantasy in my mind because here I am._

She was sitting on the bed, her legs on top of the covers. There were multiple books strewn all around her.

Sarah noticed that the chambers did look a bit different from the ones in reality. Here they were full to the brim with books, music sheets, artwork, and different items that could only belong to her.

There was a motion and then the Goblin King was standing at the foot of her bed. He was smirking at her.

"Nothing in those books can make a baby for us Love."

Sarah laughed, "I'm just looking for _advice_."

Jareth laughed and moved like a hungry predator to her bed. "Sarah, the best advice is to just…keep…trying."

Suddenly the dream faded and turned right back into a different dream.

Sarah was fingering the necklace around her neck as she sat in Hoggle's cottage with her friends.

The little dwarf was making some tea while Sir Didymus polished his little sword.

"I don't know why you are all in a fuss to have a baby Your Majesty. You remember Toby? You _wished_ him away and now you want to make one of your own? Beats all I ever seen." Hoggle griped as Sarah laughed.

"Jareth and I are more than ready to _make a baby_." Sarah laughed which elicited several yuck sounds from Hoggle.

Sarah continued, "The only problem is we've been _trying_ for almost four years. Nothing has come of it yet. I can't get the idea out of my head. It's all I think about. I keep seeing babies everywhere I go. I keep dreaming about what our children would look like and I want that so bad. Do you know anything that could help me?"

Hoggle paused and thought carefully for a few long moments. "Well…there is a travelling group of traders who sell potions to the Fae, things of that nature, but I wouldn't take their word for it Sarah. I agree with Jareth. If it happens it happens."

Sarah could feel the excitement even through the dream, "tell me where they are."

That dream ended just as quickly though and Sarah found herself thrown into another one. She was younger again.

They were dancing. Only this time they were alone and they were in the same chambers she had dreamed of before. She had begun to associate them as his chambers. She was wearing a royal blue dress that reached her knees and he was wearing a white poet shirt with his brown leather jacket.

It seemed like all of the stars shone into the chambers as they danced around the room. One of his arms held onto the small of her back and the other hand grasped hers as they spun.

Music was playing from everywhere and nowhere. When it stopped he pulled her close to him and his lips met hers. They were soft at first and then grew in intensity, leaving Sarah breathless.

His arms pulled her close to him as her own arms slid around his waist. At once he broke the kiss, kissing her forehead before meeting her eyes.

"Are you sure this is what you want Sarah?"

Sarah moved to lay her head on his chest as his arms pulled her closer. "I'm absolutely sure I'm where I belong."

"You do know it will hurt at first?"

"Jareth I'm not backing down. I'm ready."

Once again the dream faded almost as soon as it started and Sarah woke bitterly disappointed.

She thought she saw something at the edge of the room, as if someone was watching her. When she blinked there was nothing there.

There was a knock at her door and Sarah groaned as that pain began to sweep through her once more.

Hoggle appeared holding a tray of food. He walked across the room gingerly, as if Sarah was a frightened mouse.

He placed the tray of food on the bed with Sarah and motioned for her to eat. The food looked delicious but nausea pulled at her, making her want to curl into a ball.

"I'm not hungry Hoggle. Thank you though."

Hoggle huffed, "Nah ah you are eating this food. I was sent here with it with the express orders to return it empty."

Sarah shook her head and moved away from the tray. "No Hoggle. I don't want it."

Hoggle glared at her, "Now listen here Little Missy you must eat this food to keep up your strength. You need it."

Sarah felt hot anger rise in her, "No you listen here Hoggle. It doesn't matter if I eat the food or not does it? I'm dying either way!"

"Sarah Sarah, are you really declining my hospitality?" The Goblin King spoke from the open doorway.

Sarah glared, "I'm not hungry Jareth. There's no point. Thank you for easing some of the pain I've been experiencing but why prolong the inevitable? I just want to sleep. I just want to dream. At least you're nicer in my dreams."

She couldn't deny the split second look between Jareth and Hoggle and it made her furious. Everything she was frustrated with, every emotion she was feeling came forward. "What's more I feel like you are keeping something from me and I do not like it. For the past year I have felt so out of place in my own life.

I felt like I was sleepwalking and then finally I began to have these _vivid_ dreams and they took the blur out of the edge of my vision. Only, do you know what happened as soon as the blur started to go away? I started getting these weird sensations and I started to feel off.

Then, and _then_ I found out that I wasn't even in Europe apparently for the last seven years. Seven years of my life was turned upside down and now when I try to remember it's a blank slate. There's nothing there. You know what happened then? Do you?"

Sarah felt herself growing frantic as she let it all out. "I started to hurt. A lot, and then the dreams became so vivid and yet so wonderful I didn't want to leave them. I still don't want to leave them. At least there I can be happy for a moment."

Hoggle and Jareth had both frozen in place, shocked at the passion in her voice.

Sarah looked to Hoggle then, "That's what's been bothering me! You said yourself to call on you if I felt anything weird. Did you know I was poisoned then? How did you know I was poisoned before I did? Hoggle, why are you trying to act like you know nothing now?"

The dwarf very promptly ran from the room, yelling something about the Bog of Eternal Stench.

Sarah screamed right back at him, "You're lucky I'm dying or I'd tip you into the Bog myself!"

She hadn't even noticed that Jareth had gone again until she was alone in the room. Even though the sudden silence felt deafening Sarah was still furious, shaking with anger at the injustice of it all.

Then came the tears, and once they came they became torrential. She looked around the room, at the emptiness of it and could almost see where all of the items from her dream would have gone. She found herself talking out loud then.

"I'm _dying,_ and I'm so alone. I'm scared." Sarah grabbed one of the pillows on the bed and held it close to her as the tears only came faster. Her stomach started seizing again and she buried her head into the pillow so that she could finally scream.

The tray of food that had been untouched suddenly moved and the Goblin King was there holding it.

"Eat," he commanded.

Sarah looked up from her pillow and laughed incredulously, "Sure, why not? Care to join me for my last supper?"

"What if I told you I was trying to find a cure for your predicament?" Jareth asked then and Sarah's jade eyes shot to his mismatched blues.

"You said there was no hope."

"And there isn't," Jareth interrupted her tersely; "It doesn't mean that I won't try. It's the least I could do for my labyrinth's champion. Consider it a gift. I can make no promises but I will try, but only if you will agree to try too."

He motioned to the tray of food and sat it back down to her on the bed. His face was expressionless again, as if he didn't care one way or the other.

Sarah nodded and pulled the tray the rest of the way to her. _If there's a chance…_

As she began eating he stayed there, arms crossed at his chest, his face a blank mask.

"So there are poisons that can actually make you experience everything in a dream as if it were real?"

Jareth nodded, "You were there in the ballroom all those years ago. Although I actually joined you to help distract you further it was still a dream. Did you not experience it as if you were really there?"

"Well yes but these dreams are different. I have no control. I can see through my eyes, but I can't control where I look. I can feel but I can't move myself, just the dream part of me. And then I talk in my dreams and it seems as if there is a whole story that is beginning to come together dream by dream. Normally dreams aren't that cohesive."

"And that is where you were getting confused, but listen Sarah. Your dreams, no matter how enticing they may seem to you, are just dreams."

Sarah sighed, closing her eyes against the pain in her stomach. "You're right. I finally got proof that they were just dreams. I dreamed of these chambers like I had been here before. As much as I wish I could live in those dreams I know that now. They're pretty little fantasies that I'm making up to deal with the pain."

"Good, maybe now you can actually get some rest."

Sarah chuckled, "Want to know something funny?"

He paused, unsure of how to answer her, "Yes, Sarah?"

"I dreamed that you and I," She motioned with two fingers, "were _together._ "

The cold cruel king mask slid back into place. "At least you've finally learned they were just fantasies. I would never degrade myself to be with a mere mortal like you. You were an obsessed little girl running through my labyrinth at one time. It's clear that you are still the same girl, dreaming fantasies up about the Goblin King."

Even though she had expected an answer as such, hearing him say it made it feel like a hole had been punched in her chest. Then came another answer, another nail in the casket of her fantasies. She remembered those beautiful midnight blue flowers she kept receiving after her performances.

Sarah placed the mask she was always wearing back on her face and steeled her nerves as she looked straight into the king's eyes. "I am a silly little romantic girl. I think this all started because of these strange flowers I kept receiving after my performances on the stage. They were these gorgeous midnight blue flowers that seemed to shine like the stars and they never wilted. I dreamed them up after that, placing them here in the Underground. It was the fantasy of a romantic fool and I know better now."

The Goblin King's face was a mask and Sarah couldn't read him. She assumed that she was probably grating his nerves with all of her talk of dreams.

"Eat Sarah," He ordered and then he shimmered away, as Dream Sarah had called it.

She stared at the plate of food and opted to take a few nibbles before pushing the tray to the side.

Once again she was alone in the chambers. _I missed the performance yesterday, will they fire me if I even survive this?_

In order to alleviate the anxiety over that question Sarah decided that since the dizziness was at bay for the moment she needed to continue practicing her part even if she _was_ dying. She wanted to lose herself in a song once more.

She took a few minutes to warm her voice up before she worked out which song from the musical she wanted to sing. Deciding to do _Think of Me,_ Sarah stood and walked to the window overlooking the labyrinth.

The beginning piano notes played in her mind as she began to sing, her voice pure and lovely against the evening sky of the labyrinth. "Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye. Remember me every so often, promise me you'll try."

Strangely enough Sarah felt a surge of emotions as she sang, almost as if she was the one saying goodbye. "On that day, that not so distant day, when you are far away and free, if you ever find a moment spare a thought for me."

Vaguely, Sarah heard her chamber doors open. Hoggle and Sir Didymus stood in the entrance, watching her. The Goblin King had appeared in the room again, standing in the dark corner away from the others.

"And though it's clear, though it was always clear, that this was never meant to be, if you happen to remember stop and think of me. Think of August when the world was green. Don't think about the way things might have been."

"Think of me, think of me waking silent and resigned. Imagine me trying too hard to put you from my mind. Think of me, please say you'll think of me whatever else you choose to do. There will never be a day when I won't think of you."

"Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade, they have their seasons so do we, but please promise me that sometimes you will think of me." Sarah ended the song on the high note and then there was deafening silence in the room.

Hoggle was wringing his hat in his hands. Sir Didymus was crying. The Goblin King was a stoic statue in the corner of the rooms.

"S-Sarah, that was the loveliest th-thing I've ever heard." Hoggle was sobbing.

"My Lady would thou do the honor of singing another one for us?" Sir Didymus asked through his tears.

Sarah thought for a few moments, wondering at first if Jareth would be mad with her for singing but he was saying nothing, just standing there watching. She had begun to feel slightly dizzy. She knew she wouldn't be able to sing for much longer and her voice was begging to let loose.

She decided to do _Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again_. It always made her emotional when she was on stage singing it, and it was one of the only ones that was a solo so there would be no missing parts.

The labyrinth was lovely and dark. The stars were shining brightly as she began to sing. "You were once my one companion. You were all that mattered. You were once a friend and father. Then my world was shattered."

"Wishing you were somehow here again. Wishing you were somehow near. Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here." Sarah kept her gaze to the labyrinth, refusing to let them see her cry.

"Wishing I could hear your voice again, knowing that I never would. Dreaming of you won't help me to do all that you dreamed I could."

"Passing bells and sculpted angels, cold and monumental, seem for you the wrong companions. You were warm and gentle."

"Too many years fighting back tears, why can't the past just die? Wishing you were somehow here again, knowing we must say goodbye. Try to forgive, teach me to live, give me the strength to try."

"No more memories, no more silent tears. No more gazing across the wasted years. Help me say goodbye. Help me say goodbye." After the last note, Sarah held out a hand to steady herself against the stone wall. She had grown so weak.

When she turned around Hoggle and Sir Didymus were in tears and Jareth had vanished. _As always._

"Hoggle?" Sarah asked tentatively and his head shot up. "Can you please help me get back to the bed? I think I need to rest."

Immediately the dwarf and the little knight ran to her and helped walk her to the bed. She immediately collapsed onto the covers, shaking and wrought with shooting pains moving through her.

"Think you could ask your king to give me some of that magic to ease my pain as he keeps saying?" Sarah asked Hoggle but Jareth was already there, standing above her.

If it hadn't grown so dark in the chambers, if she hadn't been so dizzy and the pain hadn't been splitting through her head she would have thought for just one moment that the Goblin King had been crying, that he was shaking as he held his hands above her. _Now there's a thought Sarah._

The warmth of the magic floated through her veins and she sighed against the calm that had eased over her.


	7. What Warm Unspoken Secrets Will We Learn

**AN: Dreams, dreams, dreams, but reasons, reasons, reasons. XD**

 **This whole chapter is super short but it's all dreams.**

 **Also, more Adult Content in this chapter.**

 **Getting close to the end now.**

 **I hope you all have continued to enjoy my little vision. I love it dearly.**

Sarah knew she was in another dream as soon as she saw the gates to the Labyrinth. She knew she was younger once more in this dream.

Her friends were waiting for her on the other side. Hoggle was spraying the fairies at the wall while Ludo sat talking to his rocks. Sir Didymus was trying to teach Ambrosius just how to be a cavalry steed to no avail.

Her fingers were entwined with the necklace around her neck as the other hand waved at her friends. They immediately perked up and Hoggle abruptly put away his spray bottle.

The dwarf took note of the necklace around Sarah's neck. "Where'd ya get that Sarah?"

Sarah beamed at Hoggle, "Jareth gave it to me yesterday after I left you three. He took me to see the Singing Waterfalls. Oh Hoggle you should have seen it! There were these flowers that have _never_ bloomed before but they did last night, just as the sun went down. Then Jareth gave me _this._ "

Hoggle's already huge eyes had grown even larger, "What flowers bloomed!?"

Sarah frowned, wondering at his expression, "The Starlight Blooms."

Hoggle began to shake his head back and forth and his back met the wall of the labyrinth. "I can't believe it."

"That's amazing isn't it? I can't believe I got to witness that." Sarah spoke exasperatedly.

Hoggle looked up at her, "Didn't he tell you what that meant?"

Sarah shook her head, her fingers rolling the little crystal in her hands. "No. He did look shocked though."

"Sarah!" Hoggle started, "those flowers only bloom in the presence of well, you know that girly stuff."

"What girly stuff Hoggle?"

"Ugh, don't make me say it, especially since it was you and the Rat that was there."

"Hoggle!"

"Fine! They only bloom when in the presence of true love. You happy?"

Sarah's breath had caught, "I thought true love was just stuff from fairy tales."

Hoggle groaned, "Just where do you think you are Sarah?"

That dream faded quickly and then Sarah was into another dream.

Sarah found herself on stage. She was in an unfamiliar theatre that was packed with a full house. She was wearing a gorgeous dress as she came forward with the cast for curtain call.

She was the last one to come forward, which meant that she would be the lead, and they were all cheering for her. She was grinning from ear to ear.

Her gaze swept the audience until she landed on a blonde head standing there among the crowd. _Woah, I wasn't expecting this._ Jareth was dressed like a normal, mundane, mortal man, complete with short blonde hair as he clapped with the audience. He was grinning at her, his eyes finding hers as he winked at her.

One by one they all turned and went backstage. When they got there _he_ was there standing with his back against a wall, looking for all the world a normal man aside from his mismatched blue eyes.

Sarah darted over to him and he swept her up into a breathless kiss even with all eyes on them.

"Precious you were a dream up there." He whispered against her hair as he planted a kiss at the top of her head. His arms were around her waist, holding her close.

"It was exhilarating. I still can't believe I won the lead."

Jareth was grinning, "With a voice like yours, your passion for acting, and your breathtaking beauty they are going to melt for you."

There were snickers off to the side and Sarah's gaze met a few of the other actors. One of the women, a slight brunette, rolled her eyes at Sarah. It was obvious they were friends, "Sarah Williams, it would figure you would date an older man." The tone was teasing and friendly.

Sarah play pushed the other girl and held up her left hand proudly, "I believe the term is _engaged._ "

The dream faded and again Sarah found herself in another one.

The labyrinth was chaos. Goblins were partying and partying hard. Sarah was laughing as she wove among them, conjuring different tricks as she saw fit. Every new one she came up with had the other goblins laughing loudly.

Jareth was there, singing a song to them. They loved to watch their king put on a show and then Sarah was there with him, laughing and singing right back at him to the music that came from everywhere and nowhere.

The labyrinth clock struck the thirteenth hour and whoever was running the labyrinth had lost. A small child sat listening to them singing, grinning from ear to ear.

There was already a Fae couple there, ready to claim the child as theirs as was the norm. They thanked the king and queen and were on their way with their little cherub.

Jareth was laughing as he spun Sarah into a dance, "Precious I just loved your new addition to the labyrinth."

"He was so confused. I didn't think he was expecting it."

"Well yes, a room full of opposites was a great idea. I didn't expect you to change his clothes as well."

Sarah laughed, "It was hilarious. He was the one who wished his daughter away in a fit of drunken anger. Serves him right to leave here wearing a dress. By the way Jareth, are you going to go with me to the festival tomorrow?"

"As much as I want to I have to deal with Nealworl the Troll. He's been threatening Regicide if the rumors are true."

"Do you need me to stay and help?"

Jareth kissed her then, "No Sarah, you go and enjoy the festival. I can do without my queen for one day. He is not a threat."

"Are you sure? It sounded serious Jareth."

Jareth laughed and swept her off her feet. "I'm sure Love. Now, let's go celebrate our victory by _trying_ a certain something some more."

They had appeared in Jareth's chambers once more, and instead of allowing the Goblin King to place her on his bed she turned and pushed him onto the bed.

He was laughing as Sarah climbed on top of the bed to straddle his hips with her legs, sitting down on those oh so tight breeches.

He sat up from his position and pulled her dress up and over her head in one swift motion just as she relieved him of his poet's shirt. Their lips collided in a passionate frenzy as Sarah rocked her hips against his. _Go figure that even though in reality he cares nothing for me, here I am dreaming about him again. At least I know for sure that's all this is now._

They were relieved of all impeding clothes in one motion of Jareth's hands and he flipped Sarah onto her back on the bed. She was laughing even as she was moaning as his hands and mouth explored her. Then she pushed him off of her and shimmered herself to the far side of the room.

Sarah could hear water running from the other side of those doors and Jareth was behind her in an instant, picking her up and carrying her through to the very large garden tub that had filled with steaming water.

Once they made it into the steaming waters, Sarah climbed onto his lap once more and was instantly greeted with that sharp sweet sensation she had grown to look forward to in those dreams.

His hands rested on her back end as she used his shoulders to support her weight as she began moving over him. His eyes raked over her form even as she picked up speed.

He stopped her then, incredibly, and motioned for her to move around so that her back was against his chest. It left more room for his hands to travel around to her chest, his fingers massaging and his lips at her neck, gently working her skin with his tongue and lips.

She began to move again as his hands continued to explore her and soon they were both yelling out as first she exploded into ecstasy and then he followed her.

After it was over, as Sarah still shook from it, he held her close to his chest. His arms were possessively wrapped around her as she leaned her head back against his shoulder.

She could see his face that way and he was watching her with that same smile on his lips, cocky and full of joy. Sarah turned around so that she was facing him once more.

He leaned forward to meet her lips and she gripped the blonde hair at the back of his head in her fingers as they kissed. His arms swept up her back and then her shoulders, massaging her muscles. She moaned against his touch and he kissed her forehead.

"I love you Precious," He whispered in her ear and she sighed against his warm breath.

"I love you Jareth," her eyes met his, "I can't believe it has been five years since we became Bonded, since I became your queen. I don't feel any different. I am as passionate about you now as I was then.

Aboveground I grew up hearing that passion always fades after so long of being together. I don't feel like it has. We've had seven years together in total so far and I crave you now the same as I did after our first night together."

"We are Bonded, not married like Aboveground. We were joined much more deeply than signatures on paper. You are part of me and I'm part of you. I know how deeply you've wanted to conceive, to have that part of us made physical, and I want that too. I know that you have been yearning for a babe, to be a mother but you have to let it happen when it happens."

Sarah closed her eyes and leaned against his shoulder, her hand resting against his chest. "It's all I can think about Jareth, all I dream about. I see how you act with the Wished Aways and you as a king. You are so full of life and joy and passion. You are mischievous as well as compassionate, strict as well as lenient. You would be a wonderful father."

Jareth took his free hand and ran it through her hair, "Give it time Love. Just give it time."


	8. Help Me Say Goodbye

**AN: I really hope you've enjoyed my story so far. It's a short one but it is special to me just the same. There are only going to be ten chapters.**

 **Read and Enjoy.**

Sarah woke up crying, daylight streaming in from the open window. She sat up and leaned against the bed post, looking up at the green canopy.

She couldn't explain it, but she felt incredible guilt deep inside of her. She closed her eyes against the sensations even as pain exploded in her stomach.

The Goblin King was there then, and helped ease some of the pain but it only slightly numbed it. He barely looked at her, barely gave her a thought as he used his magic.

Sarah opted to pretend it helped if it meant he didn't have to see her suffer. She didn't want to inconvenience him further.

Sarah began to wonder if he was really trying to find the cure. _Probably not. He's been nice enough to help ease the pain but I am just a mortal nuisance to him._

 _I wish I knew what to do to make this pain stop. Will it only end when I die? Is there still no hope?_

As she sat there contemplating that she began to see something, a pattern. _I know they're just dreams, but there is something odd about them._ The more she thought about it the more she confused she became.

 _There was more than one dream where we were talking about making a baby. There was even a dream where I was talking to Hoggle about it, wanting to know if he knew any tricks that could help. Why would I dream about things like that? The dreams follow each other. I thought dreams weren't connected but these plainly are._

There was a knock at her door and a small goblin came bearing breakfast. Sarah tried her best to eat, picking at the food, and finally she sent the tray away with the goblin.

Before the goblin left the room Sarah asked, "Where is your king right now?"

The little goblin shrugged, "He left the castle."

 _Maybe he is trying to help._

When the goblin had left, Sarah changed into the new clean clothes that had appeared as if from nowhere.

She stood then in the early morning light. The walls around her were almost familiar, like home. She had a feeling then, a pull to do something that could cost her.

She looked over at the door that she knew connected the queen's chambers to the king's. _This is the final test. This is how I'll know._

The door was within her grasp and she knew he wasn't in the castle. _The pain has started back up, but I may be able to make it back before I start feeling worse._

Sarah opened the door and crossed into a small corridor that linked the two chambers. Then she was there and opening the door to the king's chambers.

As soon as she crossed over she was affronted with the cold of the chambers. There was no fire in the large fireplace, as if there hadn't been an occupant in the room for quite some time.

Sarah stared in wonder at the chambers, reaching out to steady herself on the stone wall. _This can't be real._

The chambers looked as they did in her dreams. _Except they weren't cold in my dreams. There was always a fire going._

Sarah walked forward into the quiet room, looking at the huge bed in the center. The very duvet was the same she had dreamed of, a royal blue that matched the dark blue rugs.

Her head began to swim as she walked around the room. Every detail was as she had dreamt. _But I haven't been here before. How could I have dreamt it up this perfectly?_

Sarah looked and saw the desk that sat off to the side. There was no indication that he had even sat there in quite some time. But there was something…

As if in a dream Sarah walked over to the desk where there was something displayed on a wooden carved tree.

Hanging on the branches was a necklace. Sarah's breath caught and she almost passed out. It was the same necklace that she had been dreaming of so often, the little crystal and all.

Her hands reached out and then she was holding the delicate chain up so she could see it clearly for the first time.

 _If this is real…there is no way I could have made something like this up. There's no way I could have dreamed up these exact chambers and this exact necklace and they actually exist._

She was shaking as tingling began in her arms. The falling asleep sensation that hurt so much was starting back. _I don't have much time. If this is real I have to know._

Without another thought Sarah took off through the castle, taking care not to be seen as she left through a servant's exit. Then she was at the Goblin City, threading her way through the streets. Unbearable nausea swept through her but she fought it off. She was determined to know.

Despite her determination she was still dying. She was still weak and she had no idea how to get to where she was going. It took her hours before she found the path she knew she would find somehow.

Then she was walking along it, thinking about the dream she had had where she wasn't alone.

When the path began to wind down a terrible nervousness gripped Sarah. The sun had since gone down and it was hard to see as she walked down the trail. She was at once excited and frightened about what she was going to discover when she reached her destination.

The little necklace in her hand calmed her though. _It can't be a coincidence. It can't be._

Finally she heard an unmistakable sound like harps coming from the bottom of the trail and Sarah began stumbling, hurrying to see.

Already she could see lights twinkling from the meadow, and then she was there. Her head was spinning dangerously. The pain in her stomach tore through her along with that terrible feeling like her body was slowly going to sleep.

The Starlight Blooms were all around her, twinkling along the grass as she made her way to the middle of the meadow. The massive waterfalls that sounded like music were there and the moon overhead was full and silver. _The flowers are real. They've always been real._

Sarah looked down at the necklace in her hands. _It was all real. They were memories, not dreams._

The dizziness tore through Sarah and her head was swimming. Pain exploded in her stomach and it was all she could do to stand. Vaguely she realized that her vision was growing darker and not because of the time of day. She knew she was about to fall even as a memory came to her.

Sarah could see it then: the festival had been busy. Peddlers were everywhere and she had gone to every one of them one by one, hoping for a magical fix to help them conceive.

"This will do the trick Dearie." The peddler had said and Sarah took the potion without thinking about the costs. She hadn't even noted that he was a troll, that he was the very troll Jareth had gone to confront.

The next thing she knew the Goblin King had been summoned and she was on the ground dying.

She could hear the pain in his voice still. _Her memories have been poisoned, even thinking about them speeds the process. It's impossible to stop unless I take the poisoned memories from her._

"Sarah," The Goblin King's voice came from the edge of the meadow.

Slowly Sarah turned and she could see _him_ then, not the cruel mask he had been wearing.

His face was etched in pain and defeat as he stood there.

"They weren't fantasies, not dreams. They were memories." Sarah spoke then, her heart heavy with certainty as the world grew black. The ground rushed up to meet her.

In an instant Jareth was there, catching her.

"Precious, no please no. Please don't go." He pleaded and she looked into his mismatched blue eyes almost like it was the first time.

The strange fuzzy feeling began to spread throughout her body. Her stomach was twisting in pain. The dizzy feeling pooled through her head even as her vision grew dark.

Despite it all she could feel herself reaching out to touch the side of his face. He closed his eyes against her touch as he held her close.

"I tried Precious," He spoke, his voice heavy with emotion, "I thought if I took your memories it would give me time to find a cure. I have searched in vain."

He was crying. The great Goblin King was reduced to nothing as he held her there, as she began to fade.

The necklace was still in Sarah's hand and she thought of it then. She held it up so he could see it, and without thinking she took the little crystal off, letting it grow into one like Jareth always used.

It was glowing like it had the light of the moon within it. It was beautiful to Sarah as she shook. She knew when she closed her eyes she wouldn't open them again.

She looked once more up at Jareth. His eyes were all for her. She smiled sadly. The crystal she was holding popped almost as if it was a delicate bubble and a fine silver mist landed over Sarah. It felt nice against her fading vision.

"You were enough. You were always enough." She whispered as she closed her eyes.


	9. Anywhere You Go Let Me Go Too

**AN: Sort of a Jareth POV chapter for the most part. Until the end of said chapter. Also, super short chapter, but I'm also satisfied with it.**

 **Again, I hope you've enjoyed reading this.**

Jareth was frozen in place, wracked with grief as she went into the deep sleep before she would fade completely. She looked lovely in the night, her dark hair against the midnight blue Starlight Blooms, her skin pale with the light of the moon. Her breathing had slowed. Her heartbeat was nearing its end.

Everything he had done was to give him time to find a cure but there was none to be found. His mother knew nothing that could help, nor did anyone else in the Underground or Aboveground. It was an extremely rare poison and no one had ever survived it.

Jareth held her close to him, treasuring every weak breath emitting from her weak frame. It had almost been the end of him to pretend he did not care for her, to pretend she had only been dreaming fantasies and not their shared memories. When she had broken down crying he still did not go to her for fear there was still a chance he could find the cure in time.

Time had run out though, and she was fading fast. He wondered if the Starlight Blooms would wilt now that she was dying.

Jareth bent over and buried his head on her shoulder as her breathing grew shallow. He felt defeated and broken. He was so sure that he would save her. Now he had lost and he was losing her.

He had never left her, not really. He couldn't follow her in the Aboveground. It was too much of a risk but nothing could stop him from glamouring and sitting in the audience as she played the part of Christine on the stage. That was her dream role, a role that she would not allow him to use magic to cheat her way there. She had wanted to earn it.

Then afterwards he couldn't resist the temptation to leave her one of their flowers. He knew it was a risk, and he blamed himself for her beginning to regain her memories.

She was dying and there was nothing he could do. No magic in the Underground to save her.

Then something happened. As he held her there he began to feel warmth and his eyes shot open. There was the faintest spark. He stayed as still as he could and felt for it again.

What was a spark had ignited and suddenly Jareth could sense it. He could feel his magic spreading through her veins as it did before the poison, before he took her memories.

In an instant he had taken them back to their chambers and placed Sarah on their bed. Hope could be strangling.

He pulled up a chair and watched. His breath was caught in his throat. There it was: Color had started to creep back into Sarah's cheeks and her breathing slowly evened out.

Unimaginable joy had begun to take the place of grief and then Sarah was breathing evenly, her heart was pounding out a normal rhythm and he sat there mesmerized.

After a while she stirred and he could almost feel his heart leaping out of his chest. She had been very nearly dead.

Sarah was oh so comfortable back in her own bed. She was where she belonged as she opened her eyes, and there _he_ was.

"I'm alive?"

He grinned that cocky boyish grin of his, "It appears so Precious." And then his lips descended onto hers.

She answered back with a feverish need to feel his lips against hers.

She was weak but nothing was going to stop her from what she wanted right then, and what she wanted was _him_ , her Goblin King, the one true love of her life.

Without another thought she pulled him onto the bed, doing her best to take the poet shirt off of him despite being so weak. She had two sets of memories in her mind's eye at that point, the both of them very real and very much her.

There would be time for questions later as well as answers. Right then there was only the moment and the feel of skin on skin after being apart for so long.


	10. Epilogue Love Me That's All I Ask of You

**AN: Parts of my story were oh so predictable but they were oh so delicious to me. I couldn't get this idea out of my head and I'm so happy with this fanfiction. I adore memory fics, no matter how cliche they are. XD**

Once again there was chaos in the labyrinth.

Every goblin had been turned pink while the ones who had managed to escape the terror had been tricked into falling into the Bog.

Beautiful chaos.

It had all happened while Sarah was performing on the stage. Jareth had gone to see her since it was opening night.

That's what they got for allowing Uncle Toby to babysit.

Aurelia was just three years old and unstoppable with her desire to magic everything into various shades of pink. The little blonde haired princess was her father made over, down to the last drop of glitter.

Kieran was her opposite. Though they were twins he was dark haired and had bright jade colored eyes and a wicked mischievousness that matched his mother's.

It took some time to round them up once the king and queen returned. Luckily for Toby he had Hoggle to help him, and since Hoggle knew the trick for setting off every oubliette…

"You put my babies where?!" Sarah asked incredulously.

"Relax Sarah it was only for a moment." Toby defended while Sarah scooped up Aurelia and held her tightly to her.

Jareth only chuckled from where he was standing with Kieran in his arms. Sarah glared at that big phony husband of hers and kissed her sweet little girl on the forehead before reaching over to do the same to Kieran.

The prince and princess were always butter in their parent's hands but that was where it stopped. It was either Mommy or Daddy or destruction. So when they were both away the twins opted for destruction until they returned.

Sarah put Aurelia down so that she could continue her _pink everything_ game.

"Kieran, you can go and color things with your sister, but no more dropping goblins into the Bog of Eternal Stench."

Kieran giggled and grabbed his sister's hand before speeding off down the castle corridors. Sarah thought they still looked too small to run off without her hovering. At least she had a kingdom full of goblin sitters.

Once the twins were out of sight Sarah broke down laughing too and laughed harder still at Toby's expression.

"What? That was funny. Jareth is always threatening to do it. Kieran heard his father and well…took matters into his own hands. Kids listen to their parents more than what they dream. I'm surprised Hoggle wasn't put there as much as he threatens him. And Aurelia is harmless. She's just _pinking_ everything right now. It's creative."

Toby rolled his eyes, "You're the only parents who can say they let their children color actual people and call it creative."

Sarah nodded, "You'd best be leaving these chambers Tobes because I'm about to kiss the king."

Toby audibly groaned and fled from the room as fast as a fifteen year old boy could.

Jareth laughed and came up behind Sarah, snaking his hands around her waist. It was pure bliss.

It had taken them three years before they discovered just how Sarah beat the poison. The twins were two at the time. When the Starlight Blooms had bloomed those years ago on their first _date_ together Jareth had made Sarah a necklace so that she could always remember the moment.

It was that necklace that was made from pure love held within the crystal. When Sarah was dying and holding the crystal up it sensed the magic and the need and acted accordingly in a way nothing else could. It healed Sarah, breaking apart in the process.

It happened perfectly that it had broken apart in their meadow among the Starlight Blooms where the magic between them was the strongest.

It also happened that it was in those moments after she came out of the darkness that they created the twin terrors Aurelia and Kieran.

Everything had fallen into place after that. Sarah continued to star in her role as Christine without missing a beat and all of her memories fell back into place. She was herself again. There was no more pain, no more blurry around the edges sleepwalking through life.

She had her life back, the life she loved where by day she was the Goblin Queen, by evening she was Christine on the stage doing what she loved, and then by night she was in his arms again.

Not long after things had gotten back to normal they finally got the news they had wanted for so long and then came the twins. Through all the years of trying, all of the heartbreak of being separated they finally got what they had wished for.

"Your Majesties!" A little goblin screamed, running into the royal chambers.

"Yes?" They both said at the same time, breaking apart

"The gardener, the one who always sprays the fairies? Prince Kieran put him in the Bog of Eternal Stench!"

Sarah couldn't stop the laughter rolling through her and sent Jareth to go and retrieve her _dear_ friend from the Bog. They would have to take care of the smell too. It _was_ within their power. After all, some things that are meant to be eternal, meant to have no hope could be cured given the right ingredients if your will was strong and your kingdom as great.


End file.
